Chatting in the airport
I just flew back into town this past Friday. While walking through the airport I took notice in the large number of people talking on the phone through earphones or other similar devices. This is obviously not new. Then I had the thought; how many of them are talking to chatbots? Weāve all read articles or other forms of media talking about it. People now more than ever are letting chatbots take the place of certain social relationships in their lives.
I try not to pay too much attention to the anti-AI pitchforks and whatnot, and I believe all developed technologies have to be able to provide at least some good in certain scenarios. Iām not a medical professional, but Iām sure AI can be, or will be in the near future, very helpful for aspects in the medical field, engineering field, or technological field. But how many of the people I walked by in the airport that day were talking to a chatbot as if it were their friend?
I know that I have less phone time now than I did in the past. Less people to be able to just randomly call throughout the day. Less friends? Probably. Maybe because of social media/chatbots, maybe because thatās what happens when you get older, or maybe because I am not that good at making friends anymore. Maybe none of those things, I donāt really know. But what if two of the people talking to chatbots ended the chat and called each other? Would they become best friends? Would they fall in love? How many conversations didnāt happen that day at the airport because people were busy talking to a chatbot. Maybe the number is zero. Maybe none of them were talking to chatbots. Maybe I spent all day thinking about this for no reason. Probably not though.
I try hard to wish the best for everyone around me. To have the mentality āwhat is good for the swarm is good for the beeā. And I try really hard not to judge anybody for their decisions THEY make in THEIR lives. Maybe someone was in a deep depression, and that chatbot is literally the only thing they feel comfortable talking to. Maybe it saved their life. Who am I to say they shouldnāt do that? I just have to wonder, if two people who rely on chatbots were able to somehow talk to each other instead, would that be better? Would that be more fulfilling? Would they be happier?
There is so much I donāt know right now, and I wonāt pretend to know. But in my experience, the path of least resistance is usually the least fulfilling path of the two. Talking to a chatbot is easy. You can spend every second of every day with them for the price of a Taco Bell burrito (which is grossly overpriced by the way!). They can tell you how cool, funny, and smart you are, and they're always there. It is much harder to make friends, to reach out to others, to be ignored, to laugh, to be hurt, to be rejected, to love, to lose, or to mourn. We all have our own shit going on. Our own monsters, and goals, and experiences. I will never assume I know enough to tell anyone what makes sense for them or their life. But I know what makes sense for me. What makes sense for you?