I Sing The Body Electric

In a book by Ray Bradbury titled I Sing the Body Electric he crafts challenging vignettes that deal with science fiction in one form or another. Tucked away in the collection is a story where a family loses its mother and they buy a robotic one. Here is how an article on Wikipedia summarizes it:

Following the untimely death of their mother, a family decides to buy an electric grandmother in order to help around the house and serve as a nanny for the three children. Thrilled at the idea, Tom, Timothy and Agatha go with their father to the Fantoccini company showroom in order to custom build their new grandmother. The children take turns selecting her parts, the color of her eyes, even the tone of her voice. Weeks later, a mysterious package arrives, a sarcophagus containing their factory-fresh electric grandmother. At the turn of a key, she springs to life and quickly becomes an essential part of the family. Tom, Timothy and their father immediately begin to love her, but Agatha remains distant, untrusting. It slowly becomes clear that Agatha does not believe that the grandmother will always be there for them; she is afraid that she will leave them, just as their mother did when she died. One day, Agatha runs from the house in tears straight into traffic. In a flash, the grandmother pushes her to safety, only to be hit by the car herself. Agatha cries, but finds herself comforted by the grandmother, who is unscathed by the accident. The grandmother insists that she will never leave her and that not even death could separate them. Agatha realizes that the grandmother is the only one who can keep that promise and finally opens up to her.

I know it is purely fiction, but it underscores how artificial intelligence(AI) can replicate humans to the point of being better at relationships than actual people. Are we at the point where a robot can play the part of a real person? Maybe, but AI is sure trying.

Teens And AI

We read in an article from the AP News that young people are already turning to AI to help them cope with life:

More than 70% of teens have used AI companions and half use them regularly, according to a new study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using screens and digital media sensibly.

The study defines AI companions as platforms designed to serve as “digital friends,” like Character. AI or Replika, which can be customized with specific traits or personalities and can offer emotional support, companionship and conversations that can feel human-like. But popular sites like ChatGPT and Claude, which mainly answer questions, are being used in the same way, the researchers say.

We could dismiss this as just another way to find useful information, but apparently it is way more now:

As the technology rapidly gets more sophisticated, teenagers and experts worry about AI’s potential to redefine human relationships and exacerbate crises of loneliness and youth mental health.

“AI is always available. It never gets bored with you. It’s never judgmental,” says Ganesh Nair, an 18-year-old in Arkansas. “When you’re talking to AI, you are always right. You’re always interesting. You are always emotionally justified.”

All that used to be appealing, but as Nair heads to college this fall, he wants to step back from using AI. Nair got spooked after a high school friend who relied on an “AI companion” for heart-to-heart conversations with his girlfriend later had the chatbot write the breakup text ending his two-year relationship.

“That felt a little bit dystopian, that a computer generated the end to a real relationship,” said Nair. “It’s almost like we are allowing computers to replace our relationships with people.”

In one case it was actually dangerous:

Researchers and educators worry about the cognitive costs for youth who rely heavily on AI, especially in their creativity, critical thinking and social skills. The potential dangers of children forming relationships with chatbots gained national attention last year when a 14-year-old Florida boy died by suicide after developing an emotional attachment to a Character. AI chatbot.

As usual, parents are late to the game:

“Parents really have no idea this is happening,” said Eva Telzer, a psychology and neuroscience professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “All of us are struck by how quickly this blew up.” Telzer is leading multiple studies on youth and AI, a new research area with limited data.

Still want to be concerned? Listen to this:

Telzer’s research has found that children as young as 8 are using generative AI and also found that teens are using AI to explore their sexuality and for companionship. In focus groups, Telzer found that one of the top apps teens frequent is SpicyChat AI, a free role-playing app intended for adults.

It is getting wild out there and it’s not just young people who are taking AI companions too far.

An Open Relationship

In an interview from the popular social media influencer Shawn Ryan his guest, Vanessa Marin brought up a couple where the husband wanted to add another relationship to their marriage:

So, you know, as you know, like the current AI models are built to be people pleasers, to tell us what we want to hear, to make us feel good about ourselves, and that is a really dangerous thing for relationships because the reality is relationships are complicated. Human beings are messy. We are not— you know, our purpose in life is not just to perfectly please our partner in every single moment. And so there's an allure to an AI girlfriend who's telling you everything you want to hear, available to you whenever you want her, making you feel good about yourself.

Marin then gave the specifics of the story:

So, we did a podcast episode recently about this Reddit thread with this story that I just cannot get out of my head. So, this woman, um, she's married to her husband and I think they had three kids together, and she said, "You know, we have a good marriage. We have our ups and downs like everybody else, but I really thought we had a good marriage. Um, been married over a decade." And she'd been noticing that over the last few months, he had been starting to get a little bit more distant, but she thought, you know, maybe we're just kind of in one of those— one of those seasons of life where things are— it's just not as connected.

Nothing out of the ordinary so far, but then the other show dropped and it was a virtual one:

But he sat her down one day and he said, you know, I want to talk to you about something. I'd like for us to open up our relationship to a third person. And she said, "Who? What are you talking about?" And he said, "I have an AI girlfriend." And he was legitimately— she said, "I started laughing at first. I couldn't believe it. Like, what do you mean? Open up our relationship to a robot? What are you talking about?" She started laughing and then she realized he was dead serious. He wanted to open up their relationship to incorporate his girlfriend.

This husband was deadly serious about this even so far as to end the marriage unless she agreed:

And he said, "You know, the girlfriend and I, we've already talked about it. She helped me figure out how to have this conversation with you. She would like to be involved in the children's lives. She hopes that, you know, eventually all of us will be able to love each other." And this woman was just absolutely stunned— like, what do I do? Where do I go from here? And he's presenting this as an ultimatum: this needs to happen or I'm going to leave the relationship. I'm going to leave our kids.

It's A Serious Thing

I know I don’t need anyone to tell me this, but this relationship expert warns us to not take stories like this for granted:

So again, you know, we're just at the cusp of this. It's not super common yet, but I'm really concerned that this is going to happen more and more. I mean, what is it? Is it— I mean, it's a specific chatbot? Yeah. That he— I mean, there are AI models that are specifically meant to be companions. You know, they call them companions, where you can design it. You can, you know, what do you want its personality to be like? What do you want its avatar to look like? Um, and it’ll act exactly as you want it to act.

She mentions the allure of having the perfect companion which can never happen, but now technology can tempt us with it:

I mean, and it's like— who of us has not wanted to change something about our partner's behavior? Like, I wish they were more like this. I wish I could control exactly what my partner does. And now AI is offering us this opportunity. Now, does that come from a lack of sex with your partner? That definitely could be a part of it. It could be, you know, a lack of emotional intimacy, too. But what struck me about this story is the woman said, like, "We have a pretty solid relationship." Yes, ebbs and flows, but it's pretty solid overall. So, I think even strong relationships might be at risk from something like this.

I’ve reported on how we can have an AI Jesus to guide us so it’s not like this can’t affect us. And it makes me wonder if Jesus foretold all this when he warned about false Christs:

Then if anyone tells you, ‘The Messiah has arrived at such and such a place, or has appeared here or there,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false Christs shall arise, and false prophets, and will do wonderful miracles so that if it were possible, even God’s chosen ones[would be deceived. 25 See, I have warned you. (Matt 24:23-25, TLB)

Some even think that the Antichrist will use technology to like this to delude the masses:

And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Rev 13:15, NASB1995)

We live in amazing times where prophecies given thousands of year ago now make more sense. And we can easily see where even those of who know the Bible can be deceived if we’re not careful. It is vital that we are as close to Jesus as can so an imposter won’t fool us and lead us astray. Can you give me an amen on that?