Artificial intelligence-based applications and digital assistants have become an indispensable part of life in today's world. Experts say that whether life-facilitating digital technological products will be friends or foes will be decided by the relationship that humans themselves establish with them. Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, Head of the Sociology Department at Üsküdar University, said, “While virtual friendships with virtual entities may solve some problems in the short term, in the long term, a social being like humans needs to touch, feel, interpret facial expressions, be made to feel special by another human being, in other words, needs a real other human.”
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, Head of the Sociology Department at Üsküdar University's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, stated that artificial intelligence-based applications and digital assistants have become an indispensable part of life in today's world, providing the following information:
“Digital technological products can be our best friends that make life easier, but they can also be our enemies that threaten the individual and the individual's self. This is entirely about how we establish a relationship with them.”
Digital products have accelerated and democratized access to information
Prof. Dr. Erdoğan continued:
“No one searches for directions by opening a map in traffic anymore. We entrust ourselves to a GPS. By following its instructions, we can reach our desired destination by the shortest route. Furthermore, these digital products have accelerated and democratized our access to information like never before. We can instantly translate foreign language texts and even speeches into our own language. There are AI applications that speak with us and correct our pronunciation as if we were learning a foreign language from a native speaker. It's possible to multiply the examples.”
Those who create artificial intelligence algorithms also manage humans
Reminding that AI-based applications and digital assistants operate according to a specific algorithm, Prof. Dr. Erdoğan explained:
“In other words, they actually make decisions based on the likes, tastes, political views, or economic interests of their developers and managers. In fact, since these software programs are often written by men, the concept of digital masculinity is even used. Notice that the programmers of robots are often men, while the robots themselves are female characters. Consequently, artificial intelligence guides us in many areas, from news feeds to shopping recommendations. This might allow us to access information and content we are interested in more quickly, but it also causes a phenomenon called a 'filter bubble'. Here, we receive limited information related to the beliefs and ideas presented and guided by artificial intelligence, and we can mistakenly believe that the entire world consists only of these. At the same time, we do not fully know how the large amounts of data collected by digital assistants and other artificial intelligence applications are used and stored. There are very significant ethical problems here.”
Human-like responses attract users
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan noted that increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence, like the recently popular Sophia, provides human-like responses and offers users a more ‘human’ experience. He said, “This attracts users. However, the impact of these interactions on the overall life experience is complex. Especially for individuals feeling lonely, artificial intelligence can offer a temporary sense of relief. But in the long run, there are some question marks about whether it can replace real human interactions.”
Emotional connection with artificial intelligence can weaken social skills
Underlining that the long-term interactions with artificial intelligence should not be ignored for their potential negative effect on social skills, Prof. Dr. Erdoğan stated:
“If an individual prefers chatting with artificial intelligence over real human interactions, this situation could lead to a weakening of their social skills. Interaction with real people develops the ability to understand mutual emotional responses and to empathize. The 'emotional' connection established with artificial intelligence, at least for now, cannot reach the depth and richness of a connection formed with a real human being.”
The human-AI relationship has been the subject of films
Prof. Dr. Erdoğan stated that the most striking example regarding the human-AI relationship was fictionalized in Spike Jonze’s feature film HER, explaining, “The conversation of Theodore, a writer suffering from loneliness and creative block, which began with an AI named Samantha, consisting only of a voice, gradually turns into love. He experiences a very emotionally fulfilling relationship, until Samantha confesses that she has 641 other lovers and is flirting with 8,341 people simultaneously. Theodore suddenly feels a sense of worthlessness, but he cannot leave Samantha either.”
Modern society has increased virtual friendships
Stating that loneliness is one of the most significant problems of today's society, Prof. Dr. Erdoğan concluded:
“In modern society, we experience loneliness en masse. Many studies show that loneliness causes diseases and premature death. For this reason, people who cannot socialize in the real world were looking for friends in the virtual world until recently. Lonely individuals who could not find what they were looking for there are now going a step further and turning to befriending virtual entities in the virtual world. However, while virtual friendships with virtual entities may solve some problems in the short term, in the long term, a social being like humans needs to touch, feel, interpret facial expressions, be made to feel special by another human being, in other words, needs a real other human.”