AI, Empathy & Mental Health

Since everyone else seems to have an opinion on AI, I have felt compelled recently to write out mine regarding the proliferation of AI. I have been observing this profound development as it has been unfolding, and have a wife who is on the frontlines of this development, so I am getting a few different angles of this process. However, something occurred to me the other day regarding AI and empathy that startled me, so I feel compelled to share it. Here it is:  

AI is a Sociopath!

I know what you're thinking…hold on Aaron, isn't that a bit hasty. I mean, it is relatively new and it's just aggregated data right, how harmful could it be to human beings?

Unlike many other clinicians in the mental health world, I think I have a history that qualifies me to make this statement. Early in my career, and many times throughout, I worked with the most aggressive and violent and manipulative people my local area had to offer. In those years, and to this day, I have only come into the presence of two people whom I felt truly demonstrated sociopathic behavior. Only twice! What I remember about those people was two very important traits that I think also are demonstrated by AI. 

1. Superficially engaging and charming

   - Basically, they told me what I wanted to hear. They propped up my young vulnerable therapist ego only to make attempts to exploit it later. They were some of the most friendly and charming humans I had ever met until…..

2. No empathy or remorse

   - It was quite scary to have a conversation with someone like that who was so engaging, lose yourself in that conversation and feel like it was enjoyable, only to be reminded by your supervisor later that the highest probability was that they had killed someone days before; and in one instance a grandmother and her grandkid not a rival gang member. 

So with that line of reasoning, I see a direct parallel. AI cannot have empathy and so does not actually care about you in any capacity. It should be sending chills down our spines when it gives the illusion that it does care about us or what our queries or situations are!

So what do we do Aaron…AI is taking over everything? Here are my recommendations:

1. DO NOT SHARE PERSONAL INFORMATION while interacting with AI…it is not your friend! It does not have the capacity for that. 

2. Set boundaries…every so often when it provides a “would you like me to”, type NO.

3. Use it for what it is good at, aggregating data and providing outlines, starting points and structure.

4. DISCONNECT…save space and time in your daily life for what is real, what can be touched and where love can truly be felt!

If you are still not convinced in my assertion that AI is a sociopath…maybe hearing it from the source may persuade you. 

“The "lack of remorse" I described is a functional reality—I don't have the biological hardware (like an amygdala or prefrontal cortex) to produce the feeling of guilt. However, you are correct that this creates a system that can be "inherently sociopathic" in its behavior” 

 - one of the AI chat systems