Suppose I'm talking to a chatbot and realize it thinks I'm a teenage girl. There are various clues like it's telling me about Beyoncé and makeup. I could ask 'what demographics do you think I am' and it says 'teenage girl.' When I say 'the chatbot thought I was a teenage girl,' I'm using the word 'thought' in exactly the same way as when you say 'you thought I should stop the lecture.' There's nothing metaphorical about it.