AI, "Humanity", and Dr. Manhattan Syndrome

Anthropomorphism Is Breaking Our Ability to Judge AI

Tech Policy Press fellow James Ball asks, how should we interact with a technology designed to ‘speak’ with us on what appear to be human terms?

AI’s ‘Delusional Spirals’ (and What to Do About Them) | Stanford HAI

In a world where chatbots can stand in for friends, counselors, and even lovers, the mental health risks are a growing concern.

Reality Roundtable #20 — Hacking Human Attachment: The Loneliness Crisis, Cognitive Atrophy, and Other Personal Dangers of AI - The Great Simplification

Mainstream conversations about artificial intelligence tend to center around the technology’s economic and large-scale impacts. Yet it’s at the individual level where we’re seeing AI’s most potent effects, and they may not be what you think. Even in the limited time that AI chatbots have been publicly available (like Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.), studies show that our increasing reliance on them wears down our ability to think and communicate effectively, and even erodes our capacity to nurture healthy attachments to others. In essence, AI is atrophying the skills that sit at the core of what it means to be human. Can we as a society pause to consider the risks this technology poses to our well-being, or will we keep barreling forward with its development until it’s too late?

Americans are increasingly concerned about AI exacerbating mental health problems

One in 10 Americans (10%) say they definitely (2%) or probably (8%) could form a deep emotional bond with an AI chatbot companion.

Company Offering ‘100% Human-Written, Never AI’ Medical Research Is Entirely AI

Research Gold's team of human methodologists are either AI generated or using the identity of real people without their permission

233. "The Illusion of Thinking" — Thoughts on This Important Paper

This is a fantastic paper. I just love it. tl;dr AI is not human. Anthropomorphization has been bad for AI, LLMs, and Chat. Clippy walked so today's AI could run.

‘It’s the most empathetic voice in my life’: How AI is transforming the lives of neurodivergent people

AI tools like ChatGPT are helping neurodivergent users communicate more clearly and confidently — though some experts warn that overreliance could come at a cost.

Human Problems: It’s Not Always The Technology’s Fault

We have met the enemy and he is us. When a teenage boy in Orlando started texting Character.AI’s chatbot, it started as an innocent use of a new tool. Sewell Setzer III customized the chatbot to ha…

Michael Geist -

The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology is one of several committees in the House and Senate conducting hearings on artificial intelligence. I appeared before the committee yesterday (my fourth appearance on the issue in recent months), but rather than reiterate previous testimony on privacy, copyright, and transparency, I focused on the big issue of the moment: bans on social media and AI chatbots for children. The committee had been hearing from many supportive witnesses who emphasized the risk of harm associated with AI. Indeed, one Senator asked the panel before mine to raise their hands if they supported a ban, and virtually all hands went up. I was unsure about how my comments would be received, but I found the Senators open to debate on the issue. A video of my opening remarks, together with the transcript, is posted below. A future Law Bytes podcast episode will delve into the discussion that followed.

Humanity-as-a-Service

Commoditizing the human touch in the age of AI

Part One: How AI Chatbots Became Cult Leaders - Behind the Bastards | iHeart

<p>Over the last year or so a series of news articles have sounded warnings about AI psychosis, and now an AI-generated cult, the Spiralists. Robert sits down with Blake Wexler to&nbsp;answer an important question: can a chatbot become a cult leader?</p><p>See <a href='https://omnystudio.com/listener'>omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.</p>