The goal of this questionnaire is exploring how different people understand the meaning of the word "agency".

Wikipedia says that "agency" is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment, see the wiki page. The question of agency often comes up when discussing the philosophy of A.I.

However, there is no exact or correct meaning of "agency": our questionnaire tries to understand how do different people give it a more concrete meaning. In other words, what is the "social meaning field" of the word.

What do you think? Please select these answers to the following questions, which seem to be the closest to how you personally understand "agency".

Observe there are several blocks of questions: please have a quick look at all the blocks before starting to answer the questions.

The same questionnaire is also available in estonian.

You are currently studying at a university:

Please choose yes no

What is your main subject (either studies or otherwise):

Please choose Information technology Natural sciences or mathematics Engineering Social sciences or economy Humanities Philosophy Medicine Other

If you are studying at a university, then which year of studies is ongoing:

Please choose 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

If you are student, please enter your student code, otherwise please enter some text (email, etc as you prefer) which would likely differentiate you from other people. The point of this is to account for only one answer from each person and avoid robots answering:

Have you spent some time (more than 10 minutes) on reading about the philosophical questions of agency:

Please choose yes no

Only people have agency, but animals or non-living objects do not?

Please choose yes, people only uncertain no, other animals/objects may also have agency

Only living beings have agency, but non-living objects or programs do not?

Please choose only people have agency also animals and other living beings have agency uncertain no, non-living objects and / or programs may have agency

Only some living beings (say, big animals) have agency, while some (say, plants or amoebas) do not?

Please choose only people have agency some living beings have agency, while some others do not uncertain all living beings have agency

Do large organizations of people like companies or states have agency?

Please choose No, organizations themselves do not have agency Some large organizations of people have agency, but not all uncertain All large organizations of people have agency

Programs may have agency, but non-living physical objects like chairs or computers do not?

Please choose Only people or perhaps other living beings have agency Programs may have agency, but non-living physical objects do not uncertain no, both programs and non-living physical objects may have agency

Programs may have agency while they are running on the computer?

Please choose Programs do not have any agency Programs may have agency while they are running, but not otherwise uncertain Programs may have agency even while they are not running

A computer has agency, regardless of whether it is currently running some specific program or not:

Please choose Computers do not have agency Computers have agency in any case uncertain Computers have agency only when running specific programs

A machine (a non-biological thing which has been made on some purpose) might have agency in the future:

Please choose Machines cannot have agency even in the future Some machines already have agency uncertain Current machines do not have agency, but might have in the future

A very rich person has more agency than a poor person?

Please choose Most likely yes Uncertain No, the wealth does not change the level of agency

A very clever person has more agency than a less clever person?

Please choose Most likely yes Uncertain No, cleverness does not change the level of agency

A physically strong person has more agency than a physically weak person?

Please choose Most likely yes Uncertain No, physical strength does not change the level of agency

A person having only a few similar ambitious goals has more agency than a person having many, varied and less ambitious goals?

Please choose The few-goal person has more Uncertain The varied-goal person has more

What has more agency, a meditating and clever super-rich monk living in a cave the whole life without contacting other people, or a poor ordinary person living active life?

Please choose The super-rich monk has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The ordinary person living active life has more

What has more agency, a tornado or a mountain?

Please choose None of them have any agency The tornado has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The mountain has more

What has more agency, a tornado or a grain of sand?

Please choose None of them have any agency The tornado has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The grain of sand has more

What has more agency, a chess programm using a random number generator in some parts or a chess program functioning without any randomness involved?

Please choose None of them have any agency The random-incorporating one has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The deterministic one has more

What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a world leading chess program?

Please choose None of them have any agency The ChatGPT A.I. program has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The world leading chess program has more

What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a tornado?

Please choose None of them have any agency The ChatGPT A.I. program has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The tornado has more

What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a single-cell amoeba?

Please choose None of them have any agency The ChatGPT A.I. program has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The single-cell amoeba has more

What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a mouse?

Please choose None of them have any agency The ChatGPT A.I. program has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The mouse has more

What has more agency, a scalpel used by a doctor or a road walked upon by a traveller?

Please choose None of them have any agency The scalpel has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The road has more

What has more agency: a volcano that shapes landscapes over millennia or a a beaver that builds dams over its lifetime?

Please choose None of them have any agency The volcano has more Uncertain They have the same level of agency The beaver has more

Is having goals important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is the ambition and effect or size of the goals of agent important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is the complexity and the number of available paths to the goal of agent important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is being alive important for important for estimating the level of agency (consider a single cell vs ChatGPT):

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is willing to learn from mistakes important for important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is the speed of action important for important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is intellect important for important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Is consciousness important for important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

Are the physical or social capacities important for important for estimating the level of agency:

Please choose Very important Somewhat important Uncertain Not really important Practically unimportant

You have selected and thought about answers for all the questions?

Please choose Yes, I answered all the questions with some thought No, I just pressed 'save' but did not really choose or think about the answers I did think and choose answers for most questions, but not all I did think and choose some answers, but not for most of the questions

An (optional) short comment on the questionnaire or agency: