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I’ve recently being investigating and learning more about OpenAI, ChatGPT and other AI enhanced tools. While there is a lot being said about their use, how they will affect peoples jobs and livelihoods as they become increasingly popular. I’ve been having recurring ideas about how our interactions with Artificial Intelligence will affect us in terms of our humanity.
Recently when I was playing around with ChatGPT and learning what it can do I noticed that while asking it questions, I would regularly engage it using social niceties like “Please” and “Thank you”. The ChatGPT bot itself would mention that these niceties aren’t necessary as it is “just a computer program”
I recently ran across another Twitter user who mentioned doing the same thing.
We’re only Human
It occurred to me that this is a good thing and ought to be encouraged. Being polite isn’t just about being nice to another person. A good part of it is letting ourselves be “human”. By that I mean being the best kind of human. Humans have incredible capacity for kindness, selflessness, and compassion. And yes I realize that humans can be incredibly cruel, selfish, and thoughtless, but that’s my point.
We are as we choose to do. If we choose to practice kindness, friendliness, empathy, and understanding, we become the type of human that deserves to be called “human”. If we don’t practice those behaviors – even when dealing with Artificial Intelligence that isn’t programed to appreciate it – we run the risk of dehumanizing ourselves.
There was a brief but poignant scene in Star Trek – The Next Generation that touched on this.
Just before accidentally spilling her Hot Chocolate all over Captain Picard, a young Ensign Sonya Gomez (played by Lycia Naff) was being chided for saying “Please” to the food replicator. She points out that constantly working with so much artificial intelligence can be dehumanizing. “So why not combat that tendency with a little common courtesy?” This sentiment shines in stark contrast when later in the same episode we are introduced to The Borg – the ultimate expression and result of being dehumanized by technology.
