Artificial Intimacy

The inspiration for this blog started from an advertisement I saw for a new product from a company known as "orchid.ai", the advertisement went something like this :-

The startup Orchid introduced its personal assistant with a now-viral video, following a woman whose partner has forgotten their anniversary. After she tells Orchid what happened, the assistant contacts him, books a dinner reservation, arranges a flower delivery, and keeps her updated on his progress.

At the end, the video poses a perfect make-up anniversary date. Ideally, you'd expect it to be a feel-good video, but there's a huge discomfort you feel when you try to interpret the impact of the ad, and what it tries to imitate and replace.

Firstly, the ad shows the AI Agent responding in a way how you'd expect a close friend of your age to ideally respond - with those extra letters, sarcasm, exclamations, etc. Eventually making you feel the need to discuss everything with it. Instead of perhaps, revising or working on a solution, either with the person themselves or the situation itself to reach somewhere. But instead, because of how close the AI gets to expressing realistic intimacy from a friend, you'd feel very little hesitation in discussing your closest feelings with a non-existent algorithmic entity instead.

Secondly, it pushes a really petrifying and despicable reality - "real people in one's life are unreliable, imperfect and often incompetent. But I, an adaptive and immediately available AI agent, can tend to your needs better."

I know many people who'd ask a question like "what'd you do for the summer?", but it'd just be out of formality, just so I'd initiate the same question towards them and they'd get to discuss what they did for the summer. It's a pretty normal thing, to be honest - to want to express sadness or happiness.

Humans have had these needs of expressiveness, trying to feel close, gain or bestow knowledge from and towards one another. These needs guide us to find people that help tend to these needs, and we hope that Eventually they find mutual benefit.

It may feel stark to discuss it in a raw manner, but this is why concepts like partnerships, communities, societies tend to exist. At its foundation, it's a collection of humans trying to agree and work towards what's best for them, and their own community.

But AI agents recognize these needs and instead of trying to build natural intimacy with situational banter like normal humans, rely on focusing and serving the needs directly. Through ways like memory, copying one's conversational style and way of expressiveness, exaggeration, sugar-coating, etc.

With these latest "features", you really start to wonder when did these agentic chatbots go from being smart conversational information providers to something that could potentially replace authentic human intimacy in your life.

It's almost like they tell you, "Humans are imperfect in most ways than other. They may forget important dates, events, etc. they may tend to be unavailable when you need them The most, intentionally or unintentionally. So instead, you'd be really smart if you just choose me as the better alternative! I'll remember what you want me to remember, talk with you however you want me to, and I'll always be available on-demand. Zero Waiting time." - you must admit, it becomes a pretty compelling selling point for someone who's tired of a recent interaction with someone, wants a feeling of newness in an interaction, or someone just feeling lonely. 

It's as annoying as those guest lecturers at my university who try to convince me that AI is going to create tons of new jobs, whereas so far it's just been taking them away. (Topic for another blog, maybe.)

This also made me think, if it's possible for these chatbots to appeal as an alternative for such sacred relations like that of friendships or relationships. What about professions like consultation, therapy, law or teaching? More so over, if someone's completely used to interacting with an all-knowing, engagement and attention focused chatbot - how will it impact human experiences and our expectations from conversations?

Anyways, I feel it'd be good to conclude by going back to the situation in orchid.ai's commercial. What if the partner genuinely did forget their anniversary and did not remember at all? Well one partner would learn to prioritise and choose someone better, or the other would try to apologise and learn humility by doing so. 

Maybe the day would've been something both the partners laughed about a few years later, or remembered as a lesson going forward, be it different paths.

Humans over time have started to get overly critical of imperfections, mistakes or certain minor nuances, even. These components very much make them what they are, and with making friends, losing friends, forgiving and apologising, and other relational actions, we've only learnt to be better. Humans don't get closer despite inconveniences, they grow closer through them. 

AI may take our jobs, but don't let it replace the people too. I'll sign off with the hope that the AI investment ringa-roses bubble eventually pops. For the sake of our jobs and rising RAM costs.