Staying Human in an AI world

AI generated image

Humans learning to creatively express themselves and relate to each other in healthy ways was expected to be some of the key qualities of where humanity would progress in the Aquarian age we now live in. However, it appears we may be going in the wrong direction, especially around the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

I recently had a surprising interaction with AI when I called my lawn care service. I was first connected to a fellow human who then transferred me to an AI system. The AI assistant greeted me and asked what the problem was and I answered. Then the AI assistant ‘pretended’ to be a real human and said ‘oh, don’t you just hate those pesky dandelions, they seem to pop up everywhere don’t they?’

I was simultaneously horrified and insulted. Horrified by the realistic speech patterns, intonations and delivery, and insulted that I was being prompted to speak back and interact as if this were an actual person.

I realized that responding to AI online through written words is one thing, but being confronted with a very realistic talking bot is quite another.

AI ain’t real people, but I’m a little scared that one day I won’t be able to tell the difference. Not knowing what’s real is very unsettling because I can see how easy it is to be fooled by this technology and fall into thinking we are talking to a real person.

The recent boom for AI and the race among billionaire tech companies to amass the biggest bank accounts known to mankind may not be what’s best for humankind but there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle.

I wonder if this push for AI is influencing people to relate even more with their electronics than with their fellow humans. It begs the question if people believe it's easier to talk to a Chatbot or have AI for a companion than it is to relate to real people in a healthy way?

Research indicates that as much as 96% of families are dysfunctional according to modern psychology. Which means humans don’t relate in super healthy ways but that doesn’t mean we aren’t trying to be better.

Of course, people can be challenging. We aren’t always cooperative and sometimes we’re in a bad mood which can admittedly make relating difficult but I believe its worth the effort to keep trying because sometimes we get it right even when we’re doing it wrong.

The human connection, the sense of belonging, the shared pain and joy somehow create a depth of meaning, experience and wisdom that is worth the effort of honest communication.

In my opinion, big tech companies would love nothing more than to create a world of non-reality for all of us to live in—a world they can control and manipulate at will, enslaving humanity under the rouse of making our lives ‘easier’ by letting AI run the show and make our choices for us.  Some people, maybe a lot of people would agree but not me, and I hope I’m not alone.

I cannot argue that AI doesn’t have a place or a constructive role to play in our society when used for a defined specific purpose. AI can be an exceptionally valuable tool.

I have used AI to help me create music, images and logos for my podcasts, even the image above for this article, but I chose to be a part of the creative process. I selected the parameters and directed the program giving specifics of what I wanted to create. Here, I was able to use AI to enhance my creative process, but some might find it easier to let AI make all the decisions and that’s a slippery slope.

Research and experience have shown us how dangerous AI has already become when used nefariously to deceive and manipulate. But even attempts to create something useful or just entertaining are having harmful effects.

We live in an imperfect world and we are imperfect thinkers. Humans are innately biased so programmers are programming bias patterns that are reflected in the AI systems. In fact, I would go so far as to say that programmers are inadvertently programming AI with unhealthy thought processes that are then exhibited in machine learning algorithms.

Chatbots aren't real; they do not care, they do not have morals or life experience nor do they have any true understanding of human emotion. Yet we attempt to replicate or replace human interaction through AI algorithms that have sometimes advised people to kill themselves or another. This is not good. People are losing themselves to something that isn’t real.

We all have a role to play when it comes to AI and we are all responsible for making our voices heard.  

I plan on making my opinions known to every person or company that tries to play me for a fool with a talking bot.