Users are able to interact with this robot and ask it questions – they served a functional role in giving users the answers humans need. Recently, Meta announced that these chatbots would have personalities (Clayton, 2023). What implications could this have for AI moving forward?
As mentioned in the article, chatbots were primarily used for ‘settling arguments’ (Clayton, 2023). Meta want to modify their AI bots to make interactions more entertaining. They will introduce chatbot ‘characters’ akin to real people. Celebrities and influencers’ personalities will be integrated into robots in order to make the interactions more entertaining. Humans naturally build deeper and more meaningful relationships with others due to emotions, and this extends to human-robot interactions (Hui-Wen Chuah & Yu, 2021). Emotional robots affect humans whereby they anthropomorphize the robot, and experience a higher quality of life when around it (Law, 2022). This can lead to close relationships developing between human and robot, which could have further implications socially. Additionally, since these robots are equipped with emotions, and the intelligence to answer questions, it means they can fully understand how to manage human emotions, and humans could change the way in which they interact with robots (Mecalux, n.d).
So then all of this seems fine, right? Humans benefit from being able to interact with robots as equals, and robots are able to understand human nature.
There are ethical dilemmas about whether it is right to do so. With advanced intelligence, autonomous thinking by these robots, without the aid of humans can potentially threaten humanity. If these systems feel that humans and their actions are negatively impacting the world, then who’s to say what these robots might do? For them, it may be rational to eradicate human life, as it is the logical action to do to improve the wellbeing of the earth (Hewes, 2018). In an experiment done by Jan-Philipp Stein and Peter Ohler in 2017, they studied how the interactions between humans and robots, once done on a deeper, more emotional level, can show higher levels of eeriness in audiences, highlighting the point that an emotional interaction between human and robot can be seen as uncomfortable (Hutson, 2017).
References:
Chuah, Stephanie Hui-Wen, and Joanne Yu. “The Future of Service: The Power of Emotion in Human-Robot Interaction.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 61, July 2021, p. 102551, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102551.
Clayton, James. “Meta Announces AI Chatbots with “Personality.”” BBC News, 27 Sept. 2023, www.bbc.com/news/technology-66941337.
Hewes, Tynan. “Emotional Robots: Useless and Dangerous – ST112 WA2018.” Colby.edu, 10 Apr. 2018, web.colby.edu/st112wa2018/2018/04/10/emotional-robots-useless-and-dangerous/.
Hutson, Matthew. “Beware Emotional Robots: Giving Feelings to Artificial Beings Could Backfire, Study Suggests.” Www.science.org, 13 Mar. 2017, www.science.org/content/article/beware-emotional-robots-giving-feelings-artificial-beings-could-backfire-study-suggests.
Law, Theresa, et al. “Examining Attachment to Robots: Benefits, Challenges, and Alternatives.” ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, vol. 11, no. 4, 31 Dec. 2022, pp. 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1145/3526105. Accessed 26 Oct. 2022.
Mecalux. “Emotional Robots in Logistics: Boosting Efficiency and Customer Experience.” Www.mecalux.com, www.mecalux.com/blog/emotional-robots#:~:text=Emotional%20robots%20are%20not%20only. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.
Tarantola, Andrew. “Meta AI Is a New Chatbot Platform That Starts with over 25 Personalities.” Engadget, 27 Sept. 2023, www.engadget.com/meta-is-unleashing-more-than-25-ai-chatbot-personalities-onto-the-world-181428710.html. Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.
