Is AI Really Trying to Replace Human Interaction?!

Hello and welcome to Searching For Enough, where we question how much of what we strive for and the belief that we’re not enough is shaped by external messaging. I’m a writer and longtime meditator who uprooted her life 5+ times and survived. Join the community of those who are all striving for their version of ‘enough.’

By now you may have seen the ChatGPT commercial featuring three older ladies spouting the praises of using AI in their daily lives. And if you haven’t, one of the more notable scenes is an older woman asking GPT what a “full voice duplex model” is, and then other women come into the picture demonstrating how this model works.

Without getting too technical (and therefore attempting the point I’ll try to make), this model means that you can have “genuine” conversations since it can listen and speak simultaneously. Yes, we’re talking interrupting when you talk and what you supposedly do when you’re speaking with another live human.

Aside from the fact that this commercial seems to target older audiences, and maybe the fact that they’re more likely to “benefit” from conversing with “human-like” technology, the underlying thread that seems to gnaw at me is what having an IRL conversation means.

Sure, you and your bff may be excited about a topic of the latest gossip that you can’t wait to say it out, interrupting each other in the process. You leave that conversation feeling rejuvenated and like you’re walking on clouds.

Or you ask your super smart friend about the symbolism behind the novel Beloved, and listen intently while you let them explain for almost an hour, watching for their hand waving they usually do in the process.

What’s missing?

Reciprocity.

Vulnerability.

The practice of knowing that whatever the outcome of an interaction is, you are enough.

Whatever you speak into the human world, you’re taking a risk, whether someone listens to what you say. And even if they do, whether they find what you said interesting enough.

That piece of gossip you just told your friend? It could be about one of their cousin’s girlfriends and now it’ll get back to them (oops). Your super smart friend just came from work after hearing half her staff were made redundant, and didn’t feel like obliging you about your curiosity about Beloved.

Sure, you can use ChatGPT, but it ends up being a one-sided conversation. It might interrupt you, but it’s programmed to do that. It won’t say no to your request. Heck, you may even leave the conversation feeling like you got what you needed out of it.

But is there true reciprocity? The knowing you have a community, who helps you see the best in yourself?

I’m not here to argue whether AI is factual all the time, or offers you a tool to be better at your job.

But I do wonder why the push to try and integrate it more into our daily interactions.

As scary as it feels, I never want to be too scared to talk to someone with the risk of hearing a ‘no’ from them. To continue to dare to be vulnerable.

And I hope you feel that way too.

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