AI Companionship

Sherry Turkle, an MIT sociologist of technology and psychologist, has called our increasing reliance on chatbots for companionship, “the greatest assault on empathy.” Dubbed ‘artificial intimacy,’ she and others have bemoaned the way these technologies create illusions of companionship without the challenges and rewards of real human interaction, potentially diminishing our ability to empathize with others and undermining the development of meaningful interpersonal relationships. Still, AI companionship offers direct benefits such as providing consistent and personalized emotional support and companionship to individuals who may feel isolated, offering a non-judgmental and accessible platform for interaction.

Topics for discussion during this conversation might include: What are the potential long-term psychological impacts of relying on AI companionship? How might it influence how we relate to other humans and alter what we expect of them? What is so appealing about AI companionship and the emotional support of chatbots and AI avatars? Is the swift current adoption of AI companionship by many the direct result of our growing dependency on technology for social interaction in the past few decades?