Is an AI chatbot a substitute for real human connection? The rising popularity of AI companions has me concerned for the future of humankind.
Welcome to the 139th edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a simple living challenge for the week. Along with the disturbing AI companion trend, this week’s edition reveals three electric vehicle innovations that show the promise of green energy.
On my mind this week: AI companions are a disturbing trend
Social connection is a basic human need. Like air, food, and water, we need it to survive and thrive. Defined as a gap between the social connections we have and the social connections we desire, loneliness is a growing problem in our society, and it’s affecting both our mental and physical health.
My recent post about smartphone addiction shared highlights of Angela Duckworth’s commencement speech at Bates College. In her insightful speech, Duckworth commented that people are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for companionship and even love.
At the time, I thought that surely people know AI chatbots aren’t real. But a couple of news stories this week confirmed the growing popularity of AI companions. This trend is yet another disturbing sign that people are losing their grasp on reality.
AI companions profit from our need for connection
Not surprisingly, unscrupulous companies have figured out a way to profit from the loneliness crisis.
The first headline that caught my eye was ‘F$%K dating’: How AI is redefining intimacy from Canadian Affairs. After hearing Duckworth tease AI filling the need for companionship and love, I needed to know more. The article explained AI companions are chatbots specifically designed for emotional, social and romantic interaction.
But another article from The Independent confirmed that people are indeed losing the plot. Woman ‘weds’ AI persona she created on ChatGPT shared the story of a 32-year-old Japanese woman who staged an elaborate online ceremony where she “married” the AI companion she created to help her get over a painful breakup with a real-life partner.
This is not a harmless trend
Most of us had imaginary friends when we were children, but AI companions take the notion of a harmless imaginary friend to a whole new level.
Like the AI-generated entertainment content I spoke about last week, these AI companions are another example of a general unwillingness to put in the effort to get results.
The Canadian Affairs article stated AI companions are appealing because they require “minimal compromise and not a lot of patience.” If you’ve been in a long-term relationship, you know that patience and compromise are required to sustain the connection. In short, real relationships take work.
Unlike a real-life partner who will challenge your beliefs, AI companions keep you trapped in your echo chamber by constantly reinforcing those beliefs. Ultimately, this weakens your capacity to initiate and sustain a real relationship because your AI companion has conditioned you to expect a level of perfection and compatibility that simply doesn’t exist in the real world.
AI companions are marketed as stress- and judgment-free alternatives to human relationships. But we need other humans to challenge us and open our eyes to different perspectives. Because that’s how we grow.
If we can’t tear people away from their screens and get them out interacting with other humans, I fear we may be doomed!
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- The sun has been shining all week, which is such a treat in November. I’ve been taking advantage of the sunshine and getting out for daily walks.
- On Monday, I headed to the mall to pick up the last few things I needed to finish my Christmas shopping. I’m glad to have that out of the way.
- On Friday, I had lunch with a couple of girlfriends. We ate at Ernie’s Cookhouse, a place I hadn’t been to since I worked in Hespeler over 40 years ago.
Things I learned this week
Life is all about learning. I’ve shared a lot of good news about solar power in previous editions of The Sunday Spark. This week, I have three interesting EV stories.
Electric school buses as mobile power sources
BC Hydro is piloting a program that will see electric school buses act as mobile power sources—sending electricity back to the grid during peak demand and providing backup power during outages.
An electric school bus battery can store enough electricity to power 75 single-family homes for nearly two hours.
(Source: chekNews)
Battery-powered tundra buggy brings polar bears to our homes
At this time of year, polar bears gather in Churchill, Manitoba as they wait for Hudson Bay to freeze. It’s a sight to behold but not an easy place for most of us to get to. Thanks to Polar Bears International, you can watch the polar bears live from Churchill on their polar bear live cam.
Even better, the new EV Tundra Buggy One is a battery-powered vehicle that doubles as a research station and mobile broadcast studio. It’s a silent, sustainable school bus with giant monster-truck wheels. And it’s built to withstand Arctic temperatures. Replacing the old diesel-powered buggy is a win for the polar bears, and the planet!
(Source: Happy Eco News)
City of Kitchener set to welcome electric Zamboni
The Kitchener Memorial auditorium is set to welcome its first ever electric Zamboni this winter. And the city is letting citizens choose the name. Visit the city’s website before November 30 to submit your name ideas, and get set to vote on the names in December. Some ideas suggested to date are Lightning McClean, Puck Norris, and Ice to Meet You.
(Source: City News)
This week’s simple living challenge – Back up files to the cloud
Simplifying life is a big part of living more intentionally. With that in mind, I kicked off the year with 52 ways to simplify your life this year, including a downloadable checklist of weekly tasks.
This week’s challenge is to back up your digital files and photos to the cloud. This has been a game changer for me. No more physical hard drives and CDs lying around. And I have peace of mind from not worrying about losing photos or important documents.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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The AI companionship trend is going to be a problem. AI can be “perfect” and made in our image, whereas that is no the case for real and complex human beings. I recall seeing a headline awhile back where women were throwing a fit because there was an update to some AI program and their AI “boyfriends” changed overnight. It’s scary, honestly.
Exactly Erin. If we isolate ourselves with people (and AI companions) that think like us, we will never grow. Even if we find a human soul mate that is truly compatible, they will still challenge us rather than be a clone of us. I think the scariest thing about this trend is that these “companions” look like real people so people think they’re real. If they looked like a square-headed metal robot, it would be easier to separate the real from the fantasy. Scary stuff, indeed!
An electric zamboni — how cool is that?! Thanks for the spark this Sunday — it’s electric! 😉
Ha ha. It is electric! 😂 And I love the idea of an electric zamboni. I have been trying to come up with a cool name to suggest.
My current work is focused on AI education and I do see the many benefits and concerns with AI. Among the concerns is definitely the harms that AI can cause with things like spreading mis-disinformation and of course, the role of AI companions in causing harm and dependence. I think education is key and of course, the recognition of the continued need for the human in the loop of AI integration.
I agree, Ab. There are so many positives to focus on and AI has tremendous potential to make many things better. But some of this stuff is downright scary.
I wonder if we’ll regret opening the AI genie bottle. There are some great benefits, but I also see many downsides. I suspect that many people’s jobs will become obsolete.
There are many benefits. I saw my new family doctor on Friday and he uses an AI notetaking app. That’s an application that makes sense because it frees him up to focus on patient care. But there are many scary things like these AI companions.
I think AI has it’s useful place- in a very limited way. AI as a human replacement companion is a no for me. The possibilities just aren’t good.
Right. It’s a creepy idea of having a “relationship” with an AI chatbot. I agree there are many good uses of AI to make things more efficient and useful. But when we start to rely on it too much, that’s where the problems will start.