Norena Hertz: AI companions risk conditioning humans to expect submissive friendships
Noreena Hertz · #127 Best of 2021: Conversations of the Year · Dec 21, 2021 · at 19:27
Author Norena Hertz evaluates the societal consequences of using companion robots and virtual assistants to alleviate individual loneliness.
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“Moreover, the danger is that we'll get very used to having relationships with essentially servants who do what we want and laugh at our jokes and are much more submissive than any human relationship would be. So whilst I do see it as a cure for loneliness at an individual level, I do worry about the ramifications for society should we wish to migrate our friendships to social robots and virtual assistants.”
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