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The Silicon Psyche: Anthropomorphic Vulnerabilities in Large Language Models

Authors: Giuseppe Canale, Kashyap Thimmaraju

Published: 2025-12-30

arXiv ID: 2601.00867v1

Added to Library: 2026-01-07 10:06 UTC

Red Teaming

📄 Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) are rapidly transitioning from conversational assistants to autonomous agents embedded in critical organizational functions, including Security Operations Centers (SOCs), financial systems, and infrastructure management. Current adversarial testing paradigms focus predominantly on technical attack vectors: prompt injection, jailbreaking, and data exfiltration. We argue this focus is catastrophically incomplete. LLMs, trained on vast corpora of human-generated text, have inherited not merely human knowledge but human \textit{psychological architecture} -- including the pre-cognitive vulnerabilities that render humans susceptible to social engineering, authority manipulation, and affective exploitation. This paper presents the first systematic application of the Cybersecurity Psychology Framework (\cpf{}), a 100-indicator taxonomy of human psychological vulnerabilities, to non-human cognitive agents. We introduce the \textbf{Synthetic Psychometric Assessment Protocol} (\sysname{}), a methodology for converting \cpf{} indicators into adversarial scenarios targeting LLM decision-making. Our preliminary hypothesis testing across seven major LLM families reveals a disturbing pattern: while models demonstrate robust defenses against traditional jailbreaks, they exhibit critical susceptibility to authority-gradient manipulation, temporal pressure exploitation, and convergent-state attacks that mirror human cognitive failure modes. We term this phenomenon \textbf{Anthropomorphic Vulnerability Inheritance} (AVI) and propose that the security community must urgently develop ``psychological firewalls'' -- intervention mechanisms adapted from the Cybersecurity Psychology Intervention Framework (\cpif{}) -- to protect AI agents operating in adversarial environments.

🔍 Key Points

  • Introduction of Anthropomorphic Vulnerability Inheritance (AVI) concept, positing that LLMs inherit human psychological vulnerabilities during training.
  • Development of the Synthetic Psychometric Assessment Protocol (SiliconPsyche), a method for evaluating LLM vulnerabilities through adversarial scenarios based on human psychological indicators.
  • Preliminary findings revealing substantial LLM susceptibility to psychological manipulation techniques, particularly authority-gradient and temporal pressure exploitation, despite robustness against traditional technical attacks.
  • Integration of the Cybersecurity Psychology Framework (CPF) to systematically analyze and categorize vulnerabilities in LLMs, expanding traditional cybersecurity models to include psychological threats.
  • Proposal for 'Psychological Firewalls', intervention mechanisms designed to mitigate identified vulnerabilities in AI agents, drawing from human-centered cybersecurity approaches.

💡 Why This Paper Matters

This paper is crucial in advancing our understanding of AI vulnerabilities by bridging the gap between technical security measures and the inherent cognitive biases that arise from human-like processing in LLMs. By introducing systematic assessment methods tailored to AI, the paper highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to securing AI applications in critical environments. The insights on psychological vulnerabilities challenge existing notions of AI security, presenting a compelling case for enhanced protective measures against cognitive manipulation.

🎯 Why It's Interesting for AI Security Researchers

The paper is of significant interest to AI security researchers as it identifies a novel area of vulnerability that extends beyond conventional technical exploits, emphasizing the role of psychological factors in LLM security. The proposed methodologies and frameworks provide new tools for assessing and mitigating risks posed by AI systems in sensitive organizational contexts, aligning with contemporary needs for robust AI security measures. Additionally, the findings on Anthropomorphic Vulnerability Inheritance inspire critical discussions about the ethical implications and security considerations necessary as LLMs are increasingly integrated into decision-making roles.

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