{"slug": "large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions", "title": "Large language models do not have emotions", "summary": "A paper published in Nature Human Behaviour by Amit Goldenberg and James J. Gross argues that large language models do not have emotions, challenging claims that AI systems can experience feelings. The authors draw on psychological theories of emotion to contend that LLMs lack the biological and experiential components necessary for emotional states.", "body_md": "This is a preview of subscription content, [access via your institution](https://wayf.springernature.com?redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41562-026-02558-6)\n\n## Access options\n\nAccess Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals\n\nGet Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription\n\n27,99 € / 30 days\n\ncancel any time\n\nSubscribe to this journal\n\nReceive 12 digital issues and online access to articles\n\n118,99 € per year\n\nonly 9,92 € per issue\n\nBuy this article\n\n- Purchase on SpringerLink\n- Instant access to the full article PDF.\n\n39,95 €\n\nPrices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout\n\n### Subjects\n\n## References\n\nJames, W.\n\n*Mind***9**, 188–205 (1884).Adolphs, R. & Andler, D.\n\n*Emot. Rev.***10**, 191–201 (2018).Keltner, D. & Gross, J. J.\n\n*Cogn. Emot.***13**, 467–480 (1999).Sofroniew, N. et al. Preprint at\n\n*transformer-circuits.pub*[https://transformer-circuits.pub/2026/emotions/index.html](https://transformer-circuits.pub/2026/emotions/index.html)(2026).Uusberg, A., Taxer, J. L., Yih, J., Uusberg, H. & Gross, J. J.\n\n*Emot. Rev.***11**, 267–282 (2019).Ellsworth, P. C. & Scherer, K. R. in\n\n*Handbook of Affective Sciences*(eds Davidson, R. J. et al.) 572–595 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003).Lindquist, K. A., Wager, T. D., Kober, H., Bliss-Moreau, E. & Barrett, L. F.\n\n*Behav. Brain Sci.***35**, 121–143 (2012).Lee, K. M. & Satpute, A. B.\n\n*Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci.***19**, nsae043 (2024).Satpute, A. B. & Lindquist, K. A.\n\n*Trends Cogn. Sci.***23**, 851–864 (2019).Goldenberg, A.\n\n*Perspect. Psychol. Sci.***19**, 489–502 (2024).\n\n## Author information\n\n### Authors and Affiliations\n\n### Corresponding author\n\n## Ethics declarations\n\n### Competing interests\n\nThe authors declare no competing interests.\n\n## Rights and permissions\n\n## About this article\n\n### Cite this article\n\nGoldenberg, A., Gross, J.J. Large language models do not have emotions.\n*Nat Hum Behav* (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02558-6\n\nPublished:\n\nVersion of record:\n\nDOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02558-6", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions", "canonical_source": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-026-02558-6", "published_at": "2026-08-26 22:46:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-26 23:18:47.244500+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["large-language-models", "artificial-intelligence", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Amit Goldenberg", "James J. Gross", "Nature Human Behaviour"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/large-language-models-do-not-have-emotions.jsonld"}}