In a penetrating essay, Tina He suggests that “humans crave the recognition of another mind behind communication.” When we read something, we are developing a relationship with the author. When someone becomes aware of AI’s presence in a given copy, Tina writes, “readers detect a “hollow center” in the prose, a structure of feeling without anyone... See more

It’s part of the human instinct to know what makes a relationship or response human. It’s not always predictable; it’s rife with biases, transference, and emotion. It’s a two-way street. People don’t always say yes; they push back and ask questions. This bidirectionality is what we instinctively suss out, and it often doesn’t exist in AI

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It is predictable, then, that users are consistently fooled into believing that their AI companions are conscious persons, capable of feeling real emotions.