Artificial intelligence has been a topic of great debate since the term was coined in 1955. It is particularly interesting to see how the emergence of Artificial Intelligence has successfully been able to redefine human relationships and human intimacy. This is simply because technology has always been viewed as tool to communicate with other people. However in the case of AI, the dynamics change because AI is designed to work and react like humans. Here, AI is no longer just a tool, but is an intelligent entity of its own.
The most prominent example of the complex nature of such relationships in Speak, is in the relationship between thirteen year old Gaby and Mary3, a cloud-based intelligence program. In the beginning of the novel, Gaby slowly starts to see Mary3 as a confidant, and starts telling her an experience of personal loss. Gaby even expresses her feelings of alienation in the quarantine to Mary3, when she says
“my best friend is the only one who understand me, it’s not because we talk. it’s because we both lost our babybots.” (p.19)
Earlier, Gaby compares the loss of her bot to the loss of a human child, and explains that her generation never felt lonely and “didn’t need communities” (p.18) because they took care of their bots.
This relationship between Gaby and her babybot, is a prime example of how communication and empathy build an emotional bond, much like traditional bonds that humans make with other humans. This raises questions of whether human relationships are truly unique, whether humanizing AI is a main reason why people identify and emphasize with it. And finally how the existence of a (hybrid system) where humans and AI can interact socially, alters human perception of relationships.
After conducting further research, it is important to point out, that the way AI alters human relationships cannot simply be described negatively or positively, since the topic goes much deeper than that. Studies have found many different results.
For example, There was one study that was conducted in a lab at Yale university, where they studied the effects of AI and human relationships. Small groups of people were directed to work with humanoid robots to lay railroad tracks in a virtual world. Each group consisted of three people and a little blue-and-white robot sitting around a square table, working on tablets. The robot was programmed to make occasional errors—and to acknowledge them: “Sorry, guys, I made the mistake this round,” it declared perkily. “I know it may be hard to believe, but robots make mistakes too.”
As it turned out, this clumsy, confessional robot helped the groups perform better—by improving communication among the humans. They became more relaxed and conversational, consoling group members who stumbled and laughing together more often. Compared with the control groups, whose robot made only bland statements, the groups with a confessional robot were better able to collaborate.
Other experiments, showed that parents worry while watching their children command at digital assistants such as Alexa or Siri in a rude way. They have begun to worry that this rudeness will leach into the way kids treat people, or that kids’ relationships with artificially intelligent machines will interfere with, or even preempt, human relationships.
Other points of discussions
- How did technology and AI impact you during the COVID-19 time of social isolation? Please let me know in the comments.
- If you are further interested in the topic, you can watch the movie her which you can find in Netflix.
Great post Rasha! To answer your question about the role of AI during the COVID-19 I think it is important to address the way our perception of AI has shifted. Earlier, I feel like there was a lot of criticism around AI and technology and how it negatively impacts relationships. Now, it seems as though it is working in our favor by promoting human relationships and helping us connect in better ways. With that said, I think the question is more tricky when it comes to Speak because the role of AI seems to be causing more problems than fixing them. While it is true that human beings can experience loneliness and isolation without the interference of robots or bots, I think AI is promoting these experiences by making human beings further apart. For example, Gaby does not communicate to her parents whatsoever about her feelings. Instead, she speaks to Mary3. The same goes for Ruth, if we assume Dettmann is telling the truth about why she is not speaking to him. As for Alan, he is trying to bring back a ghost by implanting his memory in a robot instead of attempting to sit with his grief and accept that his friend has passed away. If he does bring Chris back, what would happen then? He’d spend all his life in isolation with a robot instead of actual human beings, which is why I think the role of AI in Speak is negatively impacting human relationships.
Insightful post Rasha!
Jonze’s movie “her” definitely puts into perspective the future of AI and how its rapid development could lead our lives to soon mimic the characters’ circumstances in the novel. Like the movie, we have created Siri, Alexa and Sophia, which all act as a substitution or an attempt to recreate human intelligence. The question that lingers with me is ‘why?’, why have are we so infatuated or driven towards creating these machines? Is it human kind’s attempt in competing with God’s divinity in creating, or is it simply human kind’s instinct of continuously developing? I also think that the question of whether these machines are bad/good lies in the extent of their intelligence, and the mode in which they are being used.
Nice post Rasha! I find it interesting that you pointed out the humanization of technology and AI. I do not believe we can ever make technology fully human, but the process of understanding things almost runs the same if you think about it. We are all conditioned to do or say things from the time we are born to the time we die. The only difference is that us humans condition each other whereas only humans condition and program robots.
Also, I believe that technology can never be fully humanized because they are programmed for humanity itself, and that is why people felt motivated/comforted with the robots’ response to them, because they have a set response for everything. Humans respond based on what they think or feel, whereas robots respond based on their technological instructions.
As for the COVID-19 social isolation question, technology has been my only form of communication. Whilst I do believe it is comforting to know that I can talk to people by the click of a button, it does tend to make me feel crazy at times. Personally, I am already a very socially anxious and introverted person, so the fact that I cannot leave the house and get myself out of that zone is only making it harder for me to comprehend ever socializing again. It is gonna be hard to get back into socializing once this is all over. Even with the easy ways of communication granted to me by technology, I do not feel like socializing (calls, texts, etc.)