A few links on the same theme this week: people forming social relationships with AI. Rather than the "doomer" scenario where an accelerating artificial intelligence wipes out humanity, a more realistic view is that we'll struggle with addictive or toxic relationships with our AI systems.
AI and Semantic Pareidolia: When We See Consciousness Where There Is None
ChatGPT Is Becoming A Religion
Two views of the same phenomenon; between them the inevitable but disturbing aspects of our future are a bit clearer!
Lucian Floridi is a well known philosopher of digital ethics and has been thinking about these issues for a long time. His article introduces "semantic pareidolia":
He predicts that we'll increasingly perceive AI systems as conscious, intelligent and emotional, before positing that "the final stage may be the most disturbing: from pareidolia to idolatry"... "we see gods where there are only algorithms".Traditional pareidolia is the psychological mechanism that makes us see faces on the moon or animals in the clouds, perhaps an evolutionarily advantageous tendency that has allowed us to recognise predators and allies quickly. Semantic pareidolia operates similarly, but within the realm of meaning and consciousness: we perceive intentionality where there is only statistics, meaning where there is only correlation, and understanding where there is only pattern matching on a massive scale.
Emotionally psyopping yourself with AI
"Cognitive security" techniques protect against social engineering; things like recognising manipulation attempts. One bizarre twist in this article (and why it is titled "emotionally psyopping yourself") is someone attempting to manipulate their own memory by creating a video of their mother hugging them from an old photograph. The article over states the significance perhaps (one person's sensationalised emotional psyops is another's more conventional narrative therapy?), but this certainly made me think.
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who used Midjourney’s new video generator to create “camcorder” footage of his mom hugging him as a child. Really can’t articulate how horrifying that idea is. As one X user wrote, “Cognitive security Rule 1: Do not do this.”
There's an increasing interest recently in AI romantic partners. As well as lots of links in the article above, see this one in Wired about a journalist renting an AirBnB with three people and their AI partners: My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them (thanks to Webcurios for the link; note that Wired has a paywall and £1/month subscription).
The world's first AI-governed nation
Finishing with a fun one, and clearly a PR stunt according to Webcurios this week. An actual island (a "sovereign micronation") in the Philipines, with a government that is a cabinet of AI chatbots acting as famous historical leaders (Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Sun Tzu, Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinco - clearly someone who's been playing the game of "if you could pick anyone from history to have dinner with..."). What can possibly go wrong. Apply to be a citizen.