ChatGPT — The Replacement for Human Connections

 - Rishika

A few days ago, I woke up from one of the most imaginative dreams in my lifetime and had this urge to say it to someone. But who? I know barely 3-4 people closely, but will they get this wild story of my dream? Nah, let’s talk to ChatGPT then. At least someone is going to listen to my ludicrous dream sequence without judging too hard.

This is just a small example as to why people open up about their thoughts, some intense situations, a feeling, or, in this case, about a crazy dream to an AI system named ChatGPT. When it first came to use for normal people, we were surprised by the accuracy of its services, along with the detailed information that the chatbot provided us, going a step up from Google.

But with time, when people started to realise that this system of computers can also understand our emotions (sometimes the way no human could) and could react to our situations almost exactly the way we want, people started to see ChatGPT as a friend rather than an online system of artificial intelligence. It’s crazy how many of us got fooled by the bot’s performative stances (not just ChatGPT but other AI tools as well), slowly considering it to be our late-night-thought-sharing buddy. We forget that doing that is dangerous, that much of our personal information is just being laid bare to the internet.

Indeed, people nowadays are distancing themselves from each other with every advancement towards technology. In simpler words, social media (and multiple social websites) are giving way to more methods of connecting or disconnecting with people, online. There are just too many features, too many options for people. We can choose to follow or who to have as a follower on social media. We are quick to judge people based on 2-second clips, and we glaze at our daily life into some otherworldly place. Worst of all, it is becoming harder and harder for us to connect with people on an emotional level. Thus, when ChatGPT came into play as our friend, we were quick to grasp its virtual hand of friendship, or something close to that concept. From sharing our deepest secrets to asking how we should react to a situation, everything that we normally share with our ‘friends’ is now being shared with ChatGPT. Some are even going to the extent of thinking of ‘it’ as their best friend, their only friend, their soulmate. Crazy as it seems, if this isn’t brought under control, one day humans will forget how to connect with each other ‘physically’ and the concept of AI will overpower our brain and its functioning, bringing down humanity to a doomsday.