Here we present the results of the questionnaire for exploring how different people understand the meaning of the word "agency". The questionnaire itself is available in English and in Estonian.

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.

Below you can filter the answers by selecting one or more of the answers to the actual questions in the questionnaire.

Year of storing the answer (this was not a question):

Please choose 2024 2025

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

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 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 estimating the level of agency:

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

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

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

Is intellect important for estimating the level of agency:

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

Is consciousness 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 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

The following is the correlation matrix between all lists of answers: i.e. if somebody answers X to the question Q1, is it likely related to how she answers another question Q2? A low correlation number between Q1 and Q2 means that the answers to Q1 and Q2 are likely independent, while a high correlation number indicates that the answers are likely dependent on each other.

The concrete correlation numbers in the table cells are chi-square numbers. In our case the probability p that two lists of values are dependent, can be estimated from the chi square number: if the chi square number is over 30 (approximately), then the probability that the values are dependent, is over 95%.

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
0		27	47	50	0	2	2	3	2	5	3	4	4	4	3	2	2	6	8	2	5	10	14	5	24	2	6	8	2	1	3	3	4	1	4	5	1
1	27		177	266	2	1	2	1	2	4	3	6	4	3	1	3	3	2	1	2	3	7	20	3	2	4	3	2	7	1	8	5	2	2	1	5	1
2	47	177		312	9	3	11	7	15	20	12	14	14	10	9	10	10	18	16	33	25	41	60	24	16	23	39	20	36	24	23	22	28	27	15	23	9
3	50	266	312		59	18	13	14	28	26	22	21	32	18	39	36	20	27	52	37	34	64	62	44	44	42	38	35	36	58	49	37	23	47	31	44	8
4	0	2	9	59		6	9	9	9	6	5	5	4	3	6	4	11	5	4	6	4	7	42	9	4	3	6	12	8	14	6	6	16	16	12	20	11
5	2	1	3	18	6		193	156	21	27	31	24	28	9	11	17	11	15	17	9	14	16	16	19	56	17	74	16	12	12	12	22	27	6	10	11	20
6	2	2	11	13	9	193		210	35	118	115	105	79	14	17	19	24	29	36	42	75	99	87	61	109	44	98	26	11	26	46	25	30	26	61	32	20
7	3	1	7	14	9	156	210		325	175	330	339	204	90	94	97	88	107	166	120	120	170	110	198	164	164	186	26	16	20	18	15	17	16	34	26	93
8	2	2	15	28	9	21	35	325		177	340	333	201	100	88	88	100	94	177	128	144	192	144	177	125	169	121	22	17	28	35	25	22	18	28	32	89
9	5	4	20	26	6	27	118	175	177		352	267	160	50	41	45	46	50	104	88	160	186	146	121	92	116	80	34	21	19	57	17	16	14	46	25	55
10	3	3	12	22	5	31	115	330	340	352		520	251	91	78	81	84	100	209	171	244	302	253	220	166	197	150	33	20	22	67	13	30	21	54	28	89
11	4	6	14	21	5	24	105	339	333	267	520		238	87	78	81	95	91	225	185	190	247	185	206	150	210	155	26	16	23	45	20	19	18	32	25	81
12	4	4	14	32	4	28	79	204	201	160	251	238		55	48	43	46	56	114	93	124	161	127	116	78	121	88	49	10	20	42	30	25	18	40	16	58
13	4	3	10	18	3	9	14	90	100	50	91	87	55		237	344	187	240	60	41	44	72	46	58	43	81	50	21	50	39	10	13	33	19	23	54	49
14	3	1	9	39	6	11	17	94	88	41	78	78	48	237		399	300	346	57	42	40	61	37	53	42	45	33	31	51	62	8	40	64	86	28	67	43
15	2	3	10	36	4	17	19	97	88	45	81	81	43	344	399		304	354	57	35	45	62	42	56	43	72	46	13	45	49	11	18	31	23	27	53	36
16	2	3	10	20	11	11	24	88	100	46	84	95	46	187	300	304		330	59	38	59	58	40	48	34	67	49	12	57	19	11	10	22	26	22	28	36
17	6	2	18	27	5	15	29	107	94	50	100	91	56	240	346	354	330		98	77	51	84	64	59	54	73	50	27	67	45	24	36	50	55	43	38	44
18	8	1	16	52	4	17	36	166	177	104	209	225	114	60	57	57	59	98			307	392	366	373	271	490	320	26	44	35	39	24	51	31	32	28	57
19	2	2	33	37	6	9	42	120	128	88	171	185	93	41	42	35	38	77			229	305	304	276	203	365	271	35	33	31	38	25	55	18	36	27	36
20	5	3	25	34	4	14	75	120	144	160	244	190	124	44	40	45	59	51	307	229		465	326	343	206	298	217	34	33	48	41	23	34	16	59	35	50
21	10	7	41	64	7	16	99	170	192	186	302	247	161	72	61	62	58	84	392	305	465		534	501	369	436	289	35	46	44	52	39	41	39	75	50	56
22	14	20	60	62	42	16	87	110	144	146	253	185	127	46	37	42	40	64	366	304	326	534		418	247	338	265	30	32	28	45	22	36	23	60	31	48
23	5	3	24	44	9	19	61	198	177	121	220	206	116	58	53	56	48	59	373	276	343	501	418		480	372	327	23	26	50	71	33	42	29	69	28	64
24	24	2	16	44	4	56	109	164	125	92	166	150	78	43	42	43	34	54	271	203	206	369	247	480		279	405	52	30	32	43	19	66	38	41	34	38
25	2	4	23	42	3	17	44	164	169	116	197	210	121	81	45	72	67	73	490	365	298	436	338	372	279		408	30	42	21	24	40	39	20	37	22	52
26	6	3	39	38	6	74	98	186	121	80	150	155	88	50	33	46	49	50	320	271	217	289	265	327	405	408		29	20	28	38	42	65	29	35	31	37
27	8	2	20	35	12	16	26	26	22	34	33	26	49	21	31	13	12	27	26	35	34	35	30	23	52	30	29		216	102	28	79	52	100	33	62	24
28	2	7	36	36	8	12	11	16	17	21	20	16	10	50	51	45	57	67	44	33	33	46	32	26	30	42	20	216		191	26	85	89	110	33	120	20
29	1	1	24	58	14	12	26	20	28	19	22	23	20	39	62	49	19	45	35	31	48	44	28	50	32	21	28	102	191		22	96	86	96	26	99	19
30	3	8	23	49	6	12	46	18	35	57	67	45	42	10	8	11	11	24	39	38	41	52	45	71	43	24	38	28	26	22		23	33	24	82	28	10
31	3	5	22	37	6	22	25	15	25	17	13	20	30	13	40	18	10	36	24	25	23	39	22	33	19	40	42	79	85	96	23		96	116	68	82	18
32	4	2	28	23	16	27	30	17	22	16	30	19	25	33	64	31	22	50	51	55	34	41	36	42	66	39	65	52	89	86	33	96		69	38	87	33
33	1	2	27	47	16	6	26	16	18	14	21	18	18	19	86	23	26	55	31	18	16	39	23	29	38	20	29	100	110	96	24	116	69		61	136	25
34	4	1	15	31	12	10	61	34	28	46	54	32	40	23	28	27	22	43	32	36	59	75	60	69	41	37	35	33	33	26	82	68	38	61		57	20
35	5	5	23	44	20	11	32	26	32	25	28	25	16	54	67	53	28	38	28	27	35	50	31	28	34	22	31	62	120	99	28	82	87	136	57		18
36	1	1	9	8	11	20	20	93	89	55	89	81	58	49	43	36	36	44	57	36	50	56	48	64	38	52	37	24	20	19	10	18	33	25	20	18

Rows and columns:

0: Year
1: You are currently studying at a university:
2: What is your main subject (either studies or otherwise):
3: If you are studying at a university, then which year of studies is ongoing:
4: Have you spent some time (more than 10 minutes) on reading about the philosophical questions of agency:
5: Only people have agency, but animals or non-living objects do not?
6: Only living beings have agency, but non-living objects or programs do not?
7: Only some living beings (say, big animals) have agency, while some (say, plants or amoebas) do not?
8: Do large organizations of people like companies or states have agency?
9: Programs may have agency, but non-living physical objects like chairs or computers do not?
10: Programs may have agency while they are running on the computer?
11: A computer has agency, regardless of whether it is currently running some specific program or not:
12: A machine (a non-biological thing which has been made on some purpose) might have agency in the future:
13: A very rich person has more agency than a poor person?
14: A very clever person has more agency than a less clever person?
15: A physically strong person has more agency than a physically weak person?
16: A person having only a few similar ambitious goals has more agency than a person having many, varied and less ambitious goals?
17: 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?
18: What has more agency, a tornado or a mountain?
19: What has more agency, a tornado or a grain of sand?
20: What has more agency, a chess programm using a random number generator in some parts or a chess program functioning without any randomness involved?
21: What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a world leading chess program?
22: What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a tornado?
23: What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a single-cell amoeba?
24: What has more agency, ChatGPT A.I. program or a mouse?
25: What has more agency, a scalpel used by a doctor or a road walked upon by a traveller?
26: What has more agency: a volcano that shapes landscapes over millennia or a a beaver that builds dams over its lifetime?
27: Is having goals important for estimating the level of agency:
28: Is the ambition and effect or size of the goals of agent important for estimating the level of agency:
29: Is the complexity and the number of available paths to the goal of agent important for estimating the level of agency:
30: Is being alive important for estimating the level of agency (consider a single cell vs ChatGPT):
31: Is willing to learn from mistakes important for estimating the level of agency:
32: Is the speed of action important for estimating the level of agency:
33: Is intellect important for estimating the level of agency:
34: Is consciousness important for estimating the level of agency:
35: Are the physical or social capacities important for estimating the level of agency:
36: You have selected and thought about answers for all the questions?

The author had really hard time understanding how to use the scipy statistics package to calculate chi squared. After repeated failures and frustration he asked ChatGPT:

"Please write a python program using scipy, which takes two lists of categorical data (short strings) and calculates the chi-square independence between these two lists."

After the first version was produced by ChatGPT, he said

"give a version without pandas"

and the ChatGPT generated the following program, which was used for the table above without any changes:

from scipy.stats import chi2_contingency

def chi_square_independence(list1, list2):
  """
  Computes the chi-square test of independence for two categorical lists
  without using pandas.
  """

  if len(list1) != len(list2):
      raise ValueError("Both lists must be the same length.")

  # Unique categories
  rows = sorted(set(list1))
  cols = sorted(set(list2))

  # Initialize contingency table
  contingency = [[0 for _ in cols] for _ in rows]

  # Map categories to indices
  row_index = {cat: i for i, cat in enumerate(rows)}
  col_index = {cat: j for j, cat in enumerate(cols)}

  # Count occurrences
  for a, b in zip(list1, list2):
      contingency[row_index[a]][col_index[b]] += 1

  # Perform chi-square test
  chi2, p, dof, expected = chi2_contingency(contingency)

  return chi2, p, dof, expected, rows, cols