Think, know, understand, remember. These are everyday words people use to describe what goes on in the human mind. But when those same terms are applied to artificial intelligence, they can unintentionally make machines seem more human than they really are. "We use mental verbs all the time in our daily lives, so it makes sense that we might also use them when we talk about machines -- it helps us relate to them," said Jo Mackiewicz, professor of English at Iowa State. "But at the same time, when we apply mental verbs to machines, there's also a risk of blurring the line between what humans and AI can do." Mackiewicz and Jeanine Aune, a teaching professor of English and director of the advanced communication program at Iowa State, are part of a research team that studied how writers describe AI using human-like language. This type of wording, known as anthropomorphism, assigns human traits to non-human systems.…