When the machine impoverishes humans

In the three years that we have been able to chat with artificial intelligence, it has gradually taken over our habits to the point of making itself indispensable for many, in particular the youngest who always have it at hand. Its effects on humans are only just beginning to be evaluated.

A study carried out recently by MIT, a famous American institute of technology, took an interest in the brain activity of a sample of students and found that the use of a conversational agent when writing a dissertation would reduce the demand on neurons by half. In other words, the more we rely on AI to provide us with answers, the less we develop our little gray cells.

If our cognitive faculties risk taking a hit in the long run, what should we think of our emotional and emotional needs? More and more of us are seeking advice, caring listening, and even empathy from our virtual interlocutor. The illusion of otherness should soon go even further: the boss of ChatGPT pleads for the right of adult users to be able to access erotic conversations.

Enough to further weaken the bond between humans and let us believe that the other is only there to achieve our desires. Little by little, the omnipresence of this “friend”, who seems to know us so well and knows how to formulate the response we expect, skews our relationship with the world. The tragedy of the suicide of a teenager who fell in love with a fictional character “incarnated” by AI shows how far this alteration of the perception of reality can go.

More than a machine which frees itself from its designer, this is the real danger of conversational agents: impoverishing what makes us human beings. Technology cannot take power without our consent. More than ever, it is therefore a question of being creative to use this formidable invention wisely, without giving it the possibility of shaping our heads or our hearts.