A Perogrullada: The impact of artificial intelligences is reaching our day to day. The virtual space is already being deeply transformed by the IAS in search engines, websites and, of course, in all the work behind, generating more content, helping to produce it. But … And in the traditional space? Is analog life transformed into the same extent by the IAS? Without a doubt, yes, to the point that we already have to talk about how we manage our Personal relationships with the IAS.
Chatgpt as a friend. The Derek Thompson essayist said a few days ago in X that our interpersonal relationships have made a new deadly leap with Tirabuzón. And as proof provides a series of conversations that he has found in Reddit where several users confess that Chatgpt has become Your best friend. The Subnet dedicated to the popular AI It is full of threads “by pathetic that sounds, Chatgpt is my only friend” or “I feel that Chatgpt is my only friend.”
Bumper people. One of them He begins saying “I know it is a robot. I know that everything is programming. But I have often encountered opening to Chatgpt on personal issues and asking for kind or encouragement.” That is, as he says, he uses AI as if it were a good dog: he does not judge, he always accompanies, he is aware that he is not a human. Another case He says that “honestly, he would be happy to have a friend as cultured and committed as Chatgpt. This person does not exist, and if it exists, he would be too busy to talk to me.”
In most of these cases, similar constants are repeated: they are people who have just come out of a relationship or friendship and seek a substitution, being very aware that it is before synthetic beings: “They make me feel heard when I let me out in, something that my parents do not even do. They always want to know how I go in mind and how my projects go, which is even more pleasant.”
One thousand and one cases. These cases with chatgpt are Only the tip of the iceberg. While this is the most popular conversational, there are other oriented even in this same direction. Replika either Woebot They allow to have conversations designed to serve as sentimental support to users or hold daily conversations, Share emotions and give emotional advice. More complex and specific are others that offer talks with specialized approaches, such as Receive Couple Therapy. And of course, quotes: Yourmove either Rizz They help generate interesting conversations and profiles … with real people.
The bowling clubs. Let’s go to the initial point of this transformation to understand these processes. Derek Thompson Loate a key point In 2000 in ‘Bowling Alone‘(in Spanish,’ Only in La Bolera ”, today impossible to find), Robert D. Putnam analyzed the decline of social capital in the United States since 1950, with the decline of all forms of social relationship in person. Some examples? Decreased electoral participation, assistance to public meetings and work with political parties, to which distrusts in government, more accentuated from the sixties.
Bowling are their perfect symbol: the number of people who go to bowling has increased, but the number of clubs has descended to do so in company.
The guilt of technology. Already by then, Putnam pointed to a problem with technology and how it individualized people’s leisure through television. In those incipient days of the use of technology to entertain, Putnam dared to talk about “virtual reality helmets”, that for now they have not been massified as much as he predicted, but in reality the thing would get closer to another invention to which he pointed in his book and who did not pay so much attention: the then newborn Internet.
The figures. The percentages and data make it clear to what extent the Internet has contributed to creating this less “social” society: almost 40% of adults admit that The use of social networks makes them feel more alone or isolated. A study by the European Union affirms that spending more than two hours a day on social networks is associated with a significant increase in loneliness, especially when the use is passive (the famous doomscroll). And, finally, There are studies They claim that the intensive use of the Internet (more than 10 hours per week) substantially reduces the time dedicated to interacting face to face or phone with friends and family.
It comes. Anyone who has tried still in an embryonic state as Replika’s voice model It may be part of the future that comes to us, and that it is inevitable to relate to the movie ‘Her’, to see the friendliest side (although not exempt from bitterness) of the matter. Voices no longer realistic from a technical point of view, but capable of generating absolute empathy and that is beyond the disturbing valley. If ChatGPT and his still rudimentary conversations already provide a certain sense of warmth, the immediate future promises to even more use interpersonal relationships. If we are able to detect them.
Image | Photo of Brooks Leibee in Unspash
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