What if you could create your perfect wife, husband or friend? A buddy who responds in exactly the right way? You’d never hear a complaint. You’d never feel alone. You’d have a companion to make your life complete. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
You see, I’ve been reading articles about people, particularly young people, who are interacting with AI companions.
AI refers to Artificial Intelligence, and whether you realize it or not, you may already be using it. For example, if you’ve visited a company website in recent years and engaged in a text conversation with a customer service agent, it’s possible that you were talking to a chatbot. AI is the “brains” behind those chatbots.
But an “AI companion” is much more than a chatbot. I did a little search for how to create AI friends and wow! There are a lot of possibilities!
You can create a virtual friend on a phone or computer. Some companies enable you to choose what your companion will look like and essentially define their personality. They’ll chat with you, and more advanced versions even allow you to specify a voice, see facial expressions and body language.
Many of us bond with non-humans to some degree. Our beloved cats and dogs are good examples. We talk to them; they look at us with what we could believe are eyes filled with understanding and love. They wag their tails, purr and communicate in other ways. They are not the same as a human companion, but then, they don’t try to tell us what to do, either. Unless, of course, it’s feeding time.
However, I see a distinct difference between bonding with a living, breathing creature versus interacting with a piece of software that is programmed to respond to us with “empathy” or some other emotion that we specify.
Choice Theory is centered around relationships, with the idea that we need and can build satisfying relationships. So what could be wrong with creating a virtual companion who always listens, is ever supportive, even encouraging?
While I can’t say what Dr. Glasser would think of this new technological world, I do know that an AI companion won’t hold your hand when you are sad or help you to the bathroom when you have broken your leg.
Even more importantly, if you’re so fortunate to have a truly caring relationship, whether partner, spouse, or friend, you know that a satisfying relationship doesn’t only deliver what we want to hear. Sometimes it’s helpful to hear a hard truth, best delivered by a loving person who cares about us.
Real people can be difficult. They’ll argue with us, act irrationally, change their minds; sometimes even lie. But real people are also delightful: loving, thoughtful, encouraging, creative. They’ll give a hug when we need comfort, challenge us when we’re not doing our best, and maybe even point out our absurdities.
If, for example, young people primarily interact with virtual companions, how would one develop the communication skills, resilience, and confidence to interact with real people?
There is so much technology available that enables us to see and do and learn like never before. Some, however, could lead us down a rabbit hole; one where we substitute real relationships for fabricated fantasy.
Regardless of whether AI companions are ultimately good, bad, or irrelevant, we could view the fact of their development as a reminder of the importance of relationships, and choose to cherish the real, human relationships we are fortunate to have in our lives.
Have you had any exposure to AI companions? What do you think?
