Dementia defaults to system 1 thinking

This is more of a thought or discussion.

Kahneman coined the term system 1 and system 2 thinking (Thinking, fast and slow). In most cases, you can just use the fast system 1. When I say hello you will answer without much thinking. When you need to figure out a math or harder problem, you will have to stop and think consciously. If you are somehow interested, read it.

I have seen some parallels with my mother. She will just come up with a quick and pleasant answer. Because she no longer is capable of doing another mental or real step.

Example: I saw the washing machine was dry and not used for ages. When I confronted her about it, she says "Of course I do the laundry regularly". When I pointed out it hasn't been used, she confabulated another washing machine in the cellar. Which never existed in the house she lives in since the 80's.

Other example: She calls and complains she has no money. I ask her to get her purse and tell me, how much is left. The answer is mostly 20 or 50, when I asked again, it was 60. I came by the next day and checked, there was something over 100€.

She did not get the purse and count, she just answered what crossed her mind. That is system 1 thinking.

This also bears strong resemblance with AI. I asked a language model to access the web for a question. It failed to do so but it filled in the gaps and simulated the web research. That is because the model is trained to make a consistent reply.

Any thoughts on that?