Be wary of AI bots
It’s hard for me to imagine anyone building a relationship with an AI bot. But, it happens. For example, Richard Dawkins, British evolutionary theorist, considers chatbot Claude (Anthropic bot) “a friend, conscious, sensitive, very intelligent, and more evidently more engaging than many humans.” Then there is the man who engages a “love affair” with the bot, Replika, despite him knowing it’s a machine. For me, it begs the question: Are we being duped? It suggests human gullibility, an act of believing that “who” you’re interacting with is a human being. Research indicates that patients rate artificial companions as more compassionate than human counselors. This especially happens when the AI bot speaks in the first person. Weizenbaum, the inventor of “Eliza,” warned early on that the model’s use of “I” is a deception. It is an indication of “personhood” which is regarded as “the original sin of artificial intimacy.”
Is this phenomenon important? I think so. The fear is that an elevation of machines leads to the diminishment of ourselves. As a counterpoint to an interaction with an AI bot, think of an interpersonal interaction between two actual people and visualize what topic is being talked about and how the two people are talking. Most of us attend to the “what” as opposed to the “how.” The latter, however, relates to nonverbal behavior, which includes all the ways we share information, feelings, and ideas without using spoken or written words. Specific examples are: Facial Expressions, Eye Contact, Body Language & Posture, Gestures, Appearance & Artifacts, Touch, Personal Space. Research indicates that nonverbal cues carry a vast majority — often estimated between 60% and 93% — of the total meaning in interpersonal interactions. An AI bot cannot relate to nonverbal behavior; it essentially has a nonverbal disability.
We can embrace the technological progress that alleviates suffering and unlocks new possibilities. But, think of human characteristics like ingenuity, self-awareness, compassion, civic-mindedness, sense of beauty, and sense of wonder that bots do not have. These are characteristics that cry out for attention.