Irish writer John Connolly once said: The nature of humanity, its essence, is to feel another’s pain as one’s own, and to act to take that pain away. For most of our history, we believed empathy was a uniquely human trait – a special ability that set us apart from machines and other animals. But this belief is now being challenged. As AI becomes a bigger part of our lives, entering even our most intimate spheres, we’re faced with a philosophical conundrum: could attributing human qualities to AI diminish our own human essence? Our research suggests it can. Digitising companionship…
Author: Raffaele F Ciriello, Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney
Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting personal. Chatbots are designed to imitate human interactions, and the rise of realistic voice chat is leading many users to form emotional attachments or laugh along with virtual podcast hosts. And that’s before we get to the really intimate stuff. Research has shown that sexual roleplaying is one of the most common uses of ChatGPT, and millions of people interact with AI-powered systems designed as virtual companions, such as such as Character.AI, Replika, and Chai.AI. What does this mean for the future of (human) romance? The prospects are alarming. Better be nice to your AI…