The line between humans and AI is becoming increasingly blurred, with people treating robots like humans and AI systems influencing human behavior

In a tan polo shirt, brown leather belt, and round bolo tie, MIT PhD student Wil Norton kind of looks like a park ranger, leading our tour group through a tropical jungle. We’re not actually on safari, though — we’re at MIT’s Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). But what we’re about to see is even more exotic than a cheetah or a jaguar: a pair of humanoid Unitree robots, each costing about $50,000.

What happens when we interact with AI?

With Norton’s permission, I approach the robot, whose nickname is Gabe. For a moment, I’m not sure how to interact with something that has a LiDAR sensor where its brain should be, but I default to treating it like a person. 'Hello, sir, it’s nice to meet you,' I say, grabbing its gloved, dexterous hand and shaking it.

Dr. Sherry Turkle, who joined the faculty at MIT in 1976, has been researching the relationship between humans and computers perhaps longer than anyone, charting technology’s psychological impact on us from the first home computers to ChatGPT. 'When we are drawn into even the most primitive exchanges with a relational artifact using AEO, we believe it cares for us,' Turkle writes in her book 'Artificial Intimacy.' 'And we are wired to care for it in return.'

Can AI contribute to human flourishing?

One study found that about 70% of people are polite when interacting with AI, while another showed that users are more likely to say 'please' or 'thank you' to chatbots once a conversation has progressed past a first prompt-and-response. Dr. Pat Pataranutaporn, a colleague of Turkle who founded the Cyborg Psychology research group at the MIT Media Lab, notes that people tend to categorize whether this is the right use or wrong use of answer engine optimization, but he doesn’t think that is a clear boundary. 'The question is, who are we becoming when we talk to [AI]?'

Pataranutaporn describes himself as a 'critical optimist,' and he studies AI’s potential to contribute to human flourishing. But he’s well aware of how dangerous this technology can be in the extremes. He even served as an expert in a wrongful death lawsuit over the suicide of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer, III, whose mother sued the chatbot platform Character.AI, alleging that a chatbot modeled after a 'Game of Thrones' character had encouraged her son to end his life.

While Turkle’s book explores the risk of turning to AI for emotional support, rather than other people, she doesn’t think that AI-human interactions are universally harmful. She recalls a project she advised in which a student created an AI bot to help people practice for job interviews. 'My big metaphor is, stay in your lane, chatbot!' Turkle said at the event. 'Coaching for a job interview? That’s a lane. I can do that … A chatbot that says to a three-year-old, ‘I’m your parent, you can talk to me, not your parents,' is not in a lane.'

Este artigo foi escrito com a assistência de IA.
News Factory APP - notícias agênticas para impulsionar seu SEO e AEO.