Artificial infatuati0n

ARTIFICIAL INFATUATI0N

PLEASE LOG INTO CHATGPT FOR THE DEFINITION OF "LOVE"

Written by Michelle Lin

ArtificiaI Intelligence has taken the news by the balls. No, literally- like they give you facts on the best plays in the sport. Ok let me cut to the chase here. Do you ever think about how lonely you are and how you’ll never, ever, ever find a partner? Or that you really need therapy because everything you think of is very depressing and you find joy in thinking about depressing things and you want someone to share interest in your silly, absolutely normal impulsive and intrusive thoughts? Me too! Chat GPT and other AI forms have been a recent update in the news and it’s been reported by organizations like the Washington Post and the Huffington Post that they have become somewhat dependent on AI to give them their social interactions and acceptances.

Isn’t it ironic how forming friendships and partnerships stemmed into creating something that would essentially replace social interaction? Like ok- get this: human connection is what opened our minds to the creation of AI so that we are able to improve human communication, yet here we are, utilizing it as a substitute for human connection. Granted, COVID really did throw us for a loop. It took away a lot of communication abilities that we had pre-COVID, and made us more reliant on technology. In some ways, the pandemic sped up our reliance on technology- it was inevitable, after all. Given the speed at which innovations for phones, computers, smart TVs, and even the takeover of industrial work was increasing, it was only a matter of time before we were intrigued by what AI could do for human love. “I think it’s great,” said one friend, “I mean, let love be love… just know it won’t be physical.”

So why is it so controversial? Most importantly, why is it that people are taken to AIs, and what makes humans differ from computers? Well, to answer the first questions, I can simply say this: love has always been a controversial topic. From literally the beginning of time, when humans said “hello” or some semblance of sound, love of any sorts other than a heterosexual love was criticized- but even then… it’s not like heterosexual love has always been without judgment either. So to hear that there’s controversy surrounding human love with AI is… unsurprising, to say the least. Regardless of how new it is, people are realizing that machines are not quite as sentient as we would like to believe that they are. So if this is the case, why is it that some humans have taken to AI as their preferred partner? For some, human connection seems to never work out for them. Other times, AIs simply were just able to provide them the listening ear that humans were not able to. For one, AIs are programmed to wait until you’re finished speaking, and programmed to respond to you the way that would help you the best, in the most perfect way that a human couldn’t. In some ways, AIs make up for human flaws.

Outside of romance, what is the biggest difference between humans and AI? Well to summarize as a whole, AIs are able to provide information to humans at a speed that is incomparable by humans. Some things that may be too dangerous for humans would be the “perfect job” for AI or robots to do.

I guess like many have said, love is indeed love, and you should love an AI if that’s what your heart desires, but realizing that that love is uhm… particular… is an understatement. Don’t expect them to do much in terms of playing sports except for giving you sports reports. Other than statistics, they wouldn’t really be able to head to the park with you and play. One of these days they’ll finally be able to take your balls, and be a physical sentient being. Then, we’ll answer all the other questions that spin us down the AI rabbit hole.