{"id":4418,"date":"2016-04-13T05:56:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T00:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4418"},"modified":"2016-04-13T05:56:45","modified_gmt":"2016-04-13T00:26:45","slug":"friendship-cancel-with-humans-ai-bots-are-my-new-best-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4418","title":{"rendered":"Friendship Cancel with Humans. AI Bots Are My New Best Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

B<\/span><\/p><\/div>

y now, science has conclusively proved that it\u2019s not <\/span>girls<\/span><\/a> who run the world (sorry, Queen Bey), but robots. If reports about self-driving cars, smarthomes, and sexbots are to be believed, it\u2019s clear that even the most basic human activity will soon require a robot companion \u2014 an alarming thought, when you consider the potential pitfalls of relying on technology. It\u2019s bad enough when your not-very-smart fridge conks out, spoiling a week\u2019s worth of food. Or when your ordinary, peasant car that has to be driven by a person, breaks down in traffic. Can you imagine the carnage if your whole smarthome short-circuited in a power cut \u2014 and worse, the process of finding an electrician to fix it? <\/span>\n\nThe prospect is daunting. But consider this: That same electrician\u2019s refrain of \u201cek cup chai ke baad dekhte hain\u201d could be the best thing for you in a time when the rest of your <\/span>relationships<\/span><\/a> play out with robots. <\/span>\n\nWe usually fret over robots <\/span>taking our jobs<\/span><\/a>, or gaining sentience and killing us all. We wonder how we\u2019ll get on when they share society with us, and whether they\u2019re capable of being like us. But what about the habits we inevitably pick up from them? Already, most of us spend more time interacting with electronics than with people. As robots become smarter and more pervasive, every gadget and gizmo will develop its own AI personality, all the better to befriend us.<\/span>\n\nLook at <\/span>Replika<\/span><\/a>, a new-age chatbot that\u2019s a far cry from the ones who would engage in stilted conversations on MSN Messenger in the early noughties. The self-learning AI tailors its personality to each of its 2.5 million users, becoming a cross between a friend and a therapist. In fact, creator Eugenia Kyuda built the bot in memory of her best friend after he died in a car accident, using old messages and recordings of his voice to programme its personality. For lonely introverts who have trouble expressing themselves around other people, Replika is a valuable tool.<\/span>\n\nOf course, not all AI is so beneficent. In the web series <\/span>A.I.SHA<\/span><\/i><\/a>, programmer Sam develops a self-learning AI for the purpose of being a virtual assistant and companion. This sophisticated programme is smart, fashionable, and has facts at her holographic fingertips \u2014 but her <\/span>self-learning<\/span><\/a> capabilities allow her to outsmart Sam, with disastrous results. <\/span>\n\nThere\u2019s no getting away from the difficulties of imbuing robots with a <\/span>moral compass<\/span><\/a>, especially when we don\u2019t know exactly what makes humans\u2026 well, humans. In <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i>, sociologist Nicholas A Christakis <\/span>points out<\/span><\/a> that in the rush to evaluate the impact of technology on society, scientists and laypeople alike often forget how technology can change our behaviour toward other people. He defines a group of traits as \u201cthe social suite\u201d \u2014 behaviours like altruism and cooperation that help people form successful societies, but that also rely on everyone participating in those same behaviours. Turns out, AI is not just learning from us; humans are also learning to be less empathetic towards each other as we interact more with robots. As Christakis puts it, \u201cWhen this behaviour breaks down… the very notion of a public good disappears, and everyone suffers.\u201d<\/span>\n\n

As robots become smarter and more pervasive, every gadget and gizmo will develop its own AI personality, all the better to befriend us.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nVirtual companions like A.I.SHA are closer than you might think. In Japan, an Amazon Echo-type home assistant called Gatebox comes with a holographic virtual assistant named Azuma Hikari. This cute anime girl has a microphone, speakers, and sensors, and can connect to your phone and smarthome system. Like an old-school Tamagotchi, she eats, sleeps, drinks coffee \u2014 plus, she sends you texts throughout the day. Intended as a friend, assistant, and even a sort of <\/span>girlfriend<\/span><\/a>, Azuma Hikari is basically a smaller, and thankfully less smart A.I.SHA. <\/span>\n\nAs Azuma Hikari grows more popular, will she also go rogue? Let\u2019s hope not. But that doesn\u2019t mean world domination is out of her grasp. Japan\u2019s population is ageing and the birth rate is falling drastically. About <\/span>60-70 per cent<\/span><\/a> of unmarried Japanese are not in relationships. When bots like Azuma Hikari, or even realistic sex dolls make for readily available substitutes, there is little need for human companionship. It\u2019s hard to deny that robots will redefine our society, perhaps beyond recognition. <\/span>\n\nSo if your power goes out, take a moment to enjoy the analogue life. Have a cup of chai and a spot of gupshup with the electrician, and make the most of an interaction with another human. In our <\/span>AI-ruled future<\/span><\/a>, who knows when you\u2019ll get the chance? <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the web series A.I.SHA, the programmer Sam develops a self-learning AI for the purpose of being a virtual assistant and companion \u2013 a scenario not far from reality. Most of us spend more time interacting with electronics than with people. New-age chatbots double up as friends and therapists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":4419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[5087,7679,7843,7844,7845,2098,7846,4217,7847,7848,7849,7310],"class_list":["post-4418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-aisha","tag-aisha-my-virtual-girlfriend","tag-aisha-season-3","tag-alexa","tag-amazon-echo","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-azuma-hikari","tag-chatbot","tag-gatebox","tag-replika","tag-sexbot","tag-siri"],"yoast_head":"\nFriendship Cancel with Humans. 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