In this episode of GZERO AI, taylor owenProfessor at McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy and director of the Center for Media, Technology and Democracy, considers the ongoing debate about whether artificial intelligence like social media will further promote loneliness. The speed is fast and furious or helps foster meaningful relationships. Additionally, Owen offers insight into the latter, especially as technology companies like Replika have recently demonstrated the potential for AI to alleviate loneliness and even connect with loved ones who have passed away.
Like many people, I have been immersed in discussions about this current moment in AI. I was struck by a recurring theme. The question is: Will AI further divide us, or can it actually potentially bring us closer together?
Will it cause more loneliness? Or will it help address the problem? And the truth is, the more I look at this question, the more I realize there are people I respect on both sides of this debate.
Some social media observers, like Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, believe that AI suffers from the same problems of algorithmic fragmentation and polarization seen in the social media era. Some people argue. But instead, they are taking steroids. If social media has been used to capture our collective attention and draw us into public debates, AI has captured our most intimate conversations and data, and She argues that they will take advantage of your needs and desires, as the case may be. Even our loneliness. And I think, broadly speaking, I tend to lean towards this side of the argument.
I've spent a lot of time researching the problems that social media and previous technologies have brought to society. But what really struck me was the opposite aspect: that there is something inherently different about AI, and that it has a different relationship to ourselves and our humanity. This is an argument that should be considered. They argue that this is different in nature, rather than in degree, from previous technologies. I was initially daunted by this suggestion until I spoke to Eugenia Kuida. Because that's what we hear a lot about new technology.
Eugenia Kuyda is the CEO of a company called Replika that allows users to build their AI best friends. But her work in this field began in a more humble place. She built a chatbot for her deceased friend named Roman. She explains that even his closest friends and family were overwhelmed with her emotions while talking to him and got real value from the chatbot even from this crude non-AI. Driven chatbot.
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to lose someone in your life. And you don't just lose that person or being in your life, you lose so much more. You will lose their wisdom, advice, and a lifetime of knowledge about yourself. And what if AI starts to provide some of that wisdom, even if it’s superficial at first?
I know that technology, and the idea that technology can solve problems caused by technology, is a difficult proposition for many people to accept. But here's what to keep in mind when introducing these new tools into our lives: As we embrace AI tools online, at work, in our social lives, and in our families, how do they make us feel? Are you underestimating your human connection? Using these tools will either take away your human connection, or perhaps it will give you a human connection. And will these tools ultimately divide us further, or will they provide the means for building larger, more meaningful relationships in our lives? I think these are really important questions as the role of AI becomes increasingly dynamic.
One last thing I'd like to mention is a new podcast with the Globe and Mail newspaper called “Machines Like Us” where we discuss these issues and many more, including the issues we've been discussing in this video series. intend to do something.
Thank you for visiting. I'm Taylor Owen, GZERO AI.
