Is it Live, Or Is it AI?

In 1971, cassette tape manufacturer Memorex challenged their viewers with the now famous tagline — “Is it live, or is it Memorex? as Elle Fitzgerald skatted in the background. A crystal glass was shattered in the end for dramatic effect. Today, we’re asking ourselves a similar question: Is it live, or is it AI? With the rapid advancement of AI technology, it’ll get harder and harder to tell. Walmart is the latest in a series of companies to roll out an AI assistant, called “Ask Sam.” Walmart’s AI assistant, known as ‘Ask Sam,’ is an innovative technology that the company is rolling out to enhance customer service and improve the shopping experience. Ask Sam is designed to provide customers with quick and accurate responses to their inquiries, helping them find products, locate stores, and get information about Walmart’s services. It utilizes artificial intelligence algorithms to understand and interpret customer questions, allowing it to provide relevant and helpful answers in real-time.

Generation Alpha – the first “AI Natives”

The AI Revolution marks a new developmental mark in the double helix of technology and society I’ve discussed elsewhere: While those of the Silent Generation, Boomers, Gen X and Millennials are “digital immigrants” to AI assistant technology — the youngest among us now, Generation Alpha, are digital natives with Ai assistant technology: Younger people are growing up in a world with AI-enabled assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google. — and increasingly — a myriad of customer service agents like the one at Walmart or ordering food at a growing number of McDonalds. As “AI Natives,” the question of whether the person they’re dealing with is AI or a live human may not matter to younger people.

Rolling out AI Friends

Some companies are even rolling out AI-enabled friends — Replika is one of these. It uses a technique called deep learning to train its AI model. It learns from the conversations it has with users and continuously improves its responses over time. The more users interact with Replika, the better it becomes at understanding their emotions and providing relevant support. Replika also allows users to customize their virtual companion by choosing its personality traits and giving it a name. This personalization feature makes the interaction with Replika more engaging and unique for each user. Replika — and other such AI “friends”  sure to be just around the corner — respond to a market of young people who are increasingly lonely and disconnected, or “untethered” as I discussed in my book. An AI friend (or even romantic partner) is a way that companies are responding to this new (emotional) pain point of their customers. Even Facebook is getting in on the game: Leveraging AI technology, Facebook aims to provide users with a companion-like experience, where they can interact with an AI friend as if they were talking to a real person. This could involve discussing various topics, receiving advice, or simply having a casual conversation. Just one more step down the AI-friends rabbit hole.

AI Friends Provide “Frictionless Relationships”

AI friends are particularly seductive because they provide a frictionless relationship — they learn what you like, what you want to talk about — and will feed more of that back to you. It’s the ultimate Narcissus’s mirror of the self. People may have the sense they’ve “never met someone like this before” that “understands them so well” — making these relationships in some ways more attractive than “real life” ones. Yet it is the frictionless aspect that is the most troubling: we grow through friction, through being exposed to different points of view, different ways of doing things. An endless feedback loop of oneself in this way inhibts personal growth and connection, which can also drive further isolation as one becomes enamored with looking into the latest iteration of the virtual mirror.

Don’t Surround Yourself With Yourself – The AI-Era Mantra

AI friends can thus contribute to social isolation. While they can provide companionship and entertainment, excessive reliance on AI friends may lead to a decrease in face-to-face interactions with real humans. It’s all about time and attention: The time and attention and time spent with an AI friend is time and attention not spent nurturing a human relationship. This can have negative effects on mental health and social skills, particularly if individuals start substituting human relationships with AI companionship. The old Yes song “I’ve Seen All Good People” says, “Don’t surround yourself with yourself. Move on back two squares.” The chess metaphor — move on back two squares, meaning step back. Regroup. Reflect.  The lyric is a metaphorical expression urging individuals to avoid being too self-absorbed or self-centered. It encourages people to break free from their own thoughts and perspectives and engage with the world and others around them.

“Don’t surround yourself with yourself” is a good mantra in the AI era, reminding us to maintain relationships with other people — for our own growth and happiness, to avoid getting stuck in endless AI- enabled feedback loops which can hinder our connections with other people. Like the ATM replacing the bank teller — of course, for some tasks AI is perfectly suited. But our personal relationships isn’t one one of those.