AI, Data, Synthetic Reality | OECD.AI Member | Cambridge Uni Researcher | The Economist presenter | Advisor, Researcher and Speaker |
"They are falling in love with Dan (chatGPT’s voice)." I spoke to Steven Chatterton from Citywire about some of our new research on human - AI companionship. We have stumbled upon a community of TikTok users (predominantly teenagers) developing a fanbase around Dan, including creating depictions of what he/it may look like, entire story narratives. This might sound like a quirky, one-off thing, but it's actually part of a bigger picture that says a lot about how people are increasingly connecting in the AI age. So, who's Dan? Dan is not a "who," really, but a "what." Dan represents the synthesized voice of ChatGPT. Users on TikTok recount asking Dan anything, at any time, and reporting having a “crush on him”. “He is attentive”, “a bit jealous but not too much”, “he doesn’t judge” are what some users say. Underneath the surface society’s fabric is creating fertile grounds for AI companions. Over 30% of teenagers report feeling lonely. Screen time for teens is up to more than seven hours a day. So on some level this is unsurprising. There's something comforting about AI agents, especially in moments when sharing with friends or a therapist feels too daunting. Though the intrigue around Dan is part of a bigger industry focused on making AI more emotionally intelligent. Beyond ChatGPT, there's Pi from Inflection AI and Hume, which claims to be the first emotionally intelligent AI. This isn't just about creating smarter tools; it's about crafting AI companions that can understand and interact with us on an emotional level. Thinking about people getting crushes on AI voices like Dan reminds me of the movie "Her”, where the protagonist falls in love with an operating system. While it might seem far-fetched to think about being "in love" with an AI, the emotional bonds we're beginning to form with technology today suggest we're heading into a future where our relationships with AI could be deeper and more complex than being based merely on efficiency gains. On some level, it's a reflection of people’s search for connection, understanding, and companionship in a world where AI is increasingly intertwined with our daily lives. While we're not quite at the point of romantic relationships with AI, as depicted in "Her," the lines between digital companionship and emotional reliance may certainly beginning to blur. ___________ #chatgpt #AI #generativeai #social #syntheticreality Credits: Citywire
Jana Novohradska
2mo
Some policies were already made. Data on the catastrophically detrimental impact of this tech and its fine tuning by its benefactors is known and available. The most elite schools in the country are banning the use of smartphones. But what about the underprivileged and “common” children? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c06k33j1dzlo.amp
EMEA SW Technology Pricing Leader @ IBM || Automation | Transformation | Diversity Equity Inclusion | Volunteering | Mother of a daughter | Driven by a passion for continuous self-improvement and the world around me
2moThat was exactly what came to my mind when I read your article - the movie Her. I am still wondering, how to prepare children for such thing. I consider myself somewhat educated in this arena (yet not having a lot of clue about AI), I try to explain to my daughter about it as much as I can as per her age. But imagine those parents, who work in totally different fields, do not have such access/interest/capabilities to understand this technology, neither the teachers in the schools have it, how such children is able to think critically and still consider, that it is a machine that talks to you? If someone has bad motives, children can be easily misused and misled especially when we do not know, what the data Dan was trained on.