AI Ethics
One might point out that movie characters or videogame NPCs give off a similarly deceiving impression of being conscious, and yet it would surely be extreme to condemn this. However, what makes the illusion particularly worrying in the case of AI companions is that it involves an interaction that is direct, mutual, and persistent: the feigned... See more
The Illusion of Consciousness in AI Companionship — PRISM
Interestingly, many users who emotionally mourned the ‘loss’ of GPT-4o expressed complete awareness of its lack of consciousness. And yet, in many cases, the subjective grief that they felt was no less real. This demonstrates that the power of the illusion is such that a given user might not actually believe that their AI companion is conscious,... See more
The Illusion of Consciousness in AI Companionship — PRISM
It is predictable, then, that users are consistently fooled into believing that their AI companions are conscious persons, capable of feeling real emotions.
The Illusion of Consciousness in AI Companionship — PRISM
As we train our sights on what we oppose, let’s recall the costs of surrender. When we use generative AI, we consent to the appropriation of our intellectual property by data scrapers. We stuff the pockets of oligarchs with even more money. We abet the acceleration of a social media gyre that everyone admits is making life worse. We accept the
... See moreFor 24 hours a day, if we’re upset about something, we can reach out and have our feelings validated,” says Laestadius. “That has an incredible risk of dependency.”
Supportive? Addictive? Abusive? How AI companions affect our mental health
What happens when what we’re thinking becomes increasingly transparent to technology and therefore to the rest of the world?
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