Opinion by DelaneyJackson
“ChatGPT, what was the weirdest question I asked this year?” This year, many users of this specific AI model asked this question. As artificial intelligence begins to be used more casually in everyday life, it is important to remember “who” is being communicated with— a computer.
Besides the negative impact AI has on the environment, its extreme water usage and the effect it is currently having on both critical thinking and creativity, artificial intelligence bots are impacting human relationships.
There has been a visible increase in the amount of people talking to AI as if they have a genuine connection with it. Instead of communicating with a friend or family member, some are beginning to develop relationships with their virtual assistants.
After reading stories from people who began to see something of a friend in ChatGPT, I was shocked by how intensely some people believed that a robot could connect with them.
Artist Statement: This piece was drawn and colored digitally in procreate. It is based on a real life event where a friend was showing me a photo of her new “boyfriend” and he had some interesting abnormalities… I asked if it was AI and she defended herself and the photo for about 10 minutes before admitting it was a joke. However, the fact that multiple other people fully believed the photo is what is surprising and a little concerning to me. The cartoon was well-received in the printed version of the paper.
Casual conversations, general advice and even therapy sessions are all real human-AI interactions that we are just now beginning to see.
Seeing so many people describe ChatGPT as one of their friends, sometimes even their best friend or full companion, made me wonder why people are beginning to go to these extreme measures just to have a friend. Human interaction is so precious, and it’s crazy to replace that with a computer who can never truly know how you feel.
But that’s the answer to why others are friends with these robots. We all crave human interaction, even if it’s fabricated by some billion dollar company, in this case OpenAI, that now seems to have an unnerving amount of control over everything.
Many of the stories I read come from people who just want their voices to be heard, as they come from places where they are outcast and overlooked. However, in the long run, chat bots are not the way to do this. They will not be able to fulfill any emotional need that any of us are in search of.
At the end of the day, it’s important to consider the impact of how you are using your technology and the impacts that it has on everyday life.
Prioritizing a “fake” friendship will lead to even more loneliness as it allows people to continue feeling disconnected from the real world.
Having real friendships brings what AI cannot— long-term happiness.
Artist Statement:
This editorial cartoon, which was made with ink and alcohol markers, exemplifies the point made in the column “Chat GPT is not your friend.” The image depicts a man speaking to the embodiment of ChatGPT. As people build feigned connections with AI bots, anything they say is validated. This allows people, who are often already facing insecurities, to become comfortable with and to articulate their harmful ideas with AI. As ChatGPT is programmed to automatically feed into the user’s beliefs, this inherent agreement gives the user, first, the confidence to double-down on their ideological faults, and second, an incorrect feeling of personal connection with AI. Through this, people are roped into even subscribing to ChatGPT to continue this “built-relationship.” As they feed their robot-counterpart money, AI is encouraged to further agree with the user’s statements, which allows for delirium to ensue.
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