# The Quasi-Creature and the Uncanny Valley of Agency: A Synthesis of Theory and Evidence on User Interaction with Inconsistent Generative AI

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.18563 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.18563/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 14 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Aug 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Large Language Models Fail on Trivial Alterations to Theory-of-Mind Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.08399/) (2023)
- [GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.10130/) (2023)
- [Consciousness in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Science of Consciousness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08708/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The user experience with large-scale generative AI is paradoxical: superhuman fluency meets absurd failures in common sense and consistency. This paper argues that the resulting potent frustration is an ontological problem, stemming from the "Quasi-Creature"-an entity simulating intelligence without embodiment or genuine understanding. Interaction with this entity precipitates the "Uncanny Valley of Agency," a framework where user comfort drops when highly agentic AI proves erratically unreliable. Its failures are perceived as cognitive breaches, causing profound cognitive dissonance. Synthesizing HCI, cognitive science, and philosophy of technology, this paper defines the Quasi-Creature and details the Uncanny Valley of Agency. An illustrative mixed-methods study ("Move 78," N=37) of a collaborative creative task reveals a powerful negative correlation between perceived AI efficiency and user frustration, central to the negative experience. This framework robustly explains user frustration with generative AI and has significant implications for the design, ethics, and societal integration of these powerful, alien technologies.