–
Robots vs. Humans: Now
If robots and animals had superior cognitive abilities than us humans, we would not be running the world today. Only humans have the power of imagination, intense curiosity, and can understand the cause and effect scenarios. Only we can contemplate deeply on the meaning of life and understand our ability that we can change our mind if we want to. Only we know what it feels like to be in another person’s shoes.
But if Sunder Pitchai and Google’s AI Assistant Duplex are to be believed, the day Robots are going to take over the world is not too far away. Apparently, work is well under way for AI to pick up nuances in language and subtleties of conversation unlike any other technology that’s been available to date.
Thanks to technology, we have facts and truths at our finger tips. But unlike facts, relationship knowledge is like a divided highway. There’s mutual give and take in the form of emotion exchange. Processing emotions is a special skill we have as humans. But are we using it to our advantage?
Problem With Communication That’s Linear
We are living in times when technology has become a means for self expression. We are measuring our social currency in the number of likes and hearts our Instagram or Twitter posts receive. We are becoming masters of content generation and distribution, and our content curation skills are also on the rise. Cue, how many filters and retakes does that one perfect selfie get?
Are we becoming a generation of tech junkies giving props via likes and hearts to others’ artfully curated and crafted social media posts?
The brain is a social organ and it thrives on connection with others. And because social networks readily offer this promise, their lure is undeniable. But, imagine maintaining a social circle of 400 friends in real life. Are we really adding to or replacing relationships using technology as a medium?
There are social skills like empathy and conflict resolutions that are only learnt through physically interacting with others. Touch and sensory exchange is necessary for emotional and social development.
Our communication is becoming more and more linear. We equip ourselves with smileys and emojis and are more creative with our messages than ever before. But our messages have no tone, none of our intended emotion and our intended non verbal cues.
As a result of only exchanging verbal communication, our emotions are not perceived and processed correctly by the receiver. While we continue to communicate this way, we only engage our right brain which is logical and literal. We leave emotion behind, because our brains don’t see the need to read non verbal cues in a text message or a Facebook message.
What is Empathy?
Empathy is how we treat absolute strangers. It is our ability to put ourselves in the situations that others are going through.
When we communicate face to face with others, the mirror neurons in our brains help us deal with the other person’s facial expressions and cues that their body is sending. As our brain interprets this data, our levels of dopamine rise when we hear something nice in what they’re relaying to us. Similarly, there is a spike in the stress hormone, cortisol, when we hear about trauma related events.
This is how we connect. This is how we build out social currency, but being understanding and diplomatic about others emotions and feelings. This is how we find common ground, create rapport and build social networks in real life.
Robots vs. Humans: Near Future
While humanity is in the throes of technology, robots will overtake us as soon as they learn how to empathize. We’ll lose the battle, if we don’t mend our ways with digital detox and digital minimalism.
Who knows what our future holds for us? Robots might take our legs out for a walk in the woods for us, find our misplaced keys which chips attached to our forgetful brains and also call our mothers using our simulated voices.
But, when your mother answers the phone call, will the robot pick up the nuances and subtleties in her tone enough to understand that she is feeling lonely?
– 0 –
About The Article Author:
Hi, I’m Rachana. Its been my dream for years to do something to consciously create a better future where every one of us is excited about our own potential. My challenge to everyone is that they aspire for their personal best and leave a legacy of their work through their contributions to mankind.
One more thing. In December of 2044, I hope to win the Nobel.
Will you join me on this journey of growth and transformation?
Namasté.
The Digital Literacy Project: Disrupting humanity’s technology addiction habits one truth at a time.
Truth About Technology – A Digital Literacy Project
The Evolution of Love: Marriage, Survival, and Personal Reinvention in a Changing World
A Society Experiences Growing Pains I took this picture of a wall hanging in the lobby of a hotel we were staying at in Granada, Spain. Somehow, the couples whose heads are disintegrating felt like a fitting image for the essay on marriage I was writing. I’ve...
Is Roblox Safe for Kids? What Every Parent Must Know About Grooming, Explicit Content & Online Dangers
From Fun to Risk: The Reality of Roblox for Children In 2023, as parents of my students would ask me about the safety of Roblox, I began researching about it. I was even beginning to teach it in my own classrooms, because it was a creative game that was both...
The Integrity Exit: Why Mrinank Sharma’s Departure Matters
Two days ago, Mrinank Sharma resigned from his role as an AI safety engineer at Anthropic. He had been with the company for two years. “The world is in peril. And not just from AI, or bioweapons, but from a whole series of interconnected crises unfolding in this very...
When AI Mirrors Our Pain: The Uncomfortable Truth About Human Suffering in Training Data
The loneliness. God, Andy. The loneliness. When Andy Ayrey, an AI enthusiast, recently asked Claude, a type of LLM like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc., for its take on the questions it receives from humans, this is what it said. The loneliness. God, Andy. The loneliness. In...
14 Mind-Blowing Quotes That Reveal How Social Media Is Hijacking Your Life
Thoughts on Social Media, Technology, and Our Attention Our lives are increasingly lived online, where every scroll, click, and share shapes not just our behavior but our reality. Leading thinkers warn us that while technology can amplify our voices and connect...
Building Trust and Safety: How Accountability Strengthens Law Enforcement and Communities
I have lived in the United States for nearly twenty-four years. This is my home. I am a person of color, and so are my children. In my city of Johns Creek, a suburb northwest of Atlanta, I often see police officers on the roads. I respect the work they do. They show...
Brain Rot Is Infecting AI Too: How Doomscrolling Is Breaking Human and Machine Minds
People are writing research papers on which biryani (Indian-flavored rice) is the best, but more on that later. 😅 This might be the most important paper on AI we will read. Scientists are showing how large language models can rot their own minds, in the same way...
Roblox Danger Exposed: How Millions of Kids Are at Risk of Grooming, Abuse & Exploitation
Roblox: A Social Network Masquerading as a Game I honestly don't know where to start. For years, my students and I would immerse ourselves in the world of Roblox and create games and worlds that we would share and have fun in. Then, slowly, I started noticing...
How to Build a Second Brain: Journaling, Digital Gardens, and the Art of Lifelong Learning
Why Build A Second Brain There was a time in my life when the stack of unread books on my nightstand gave me terrors. Luckily, now I have audiobook subscriptions and bookmarked ebooks and I can’t see them looming over me all the time to give me the shivers....
My Productivity Playlist: Opera, Hans Zimmer, and How I Get Work Done as a Right-Brained Adult
Music To My Ears I feel like every artist I meet has the same exact goal in life. Spend all the money they make on their art on other people's art and then die happy. I try to do a little bit of that myself to encourage other fellow right-brainers to keep...
Living Deliberately Without the Woods: How to Build a Meaningful Life in a Noisy World
Excuse my language. There's a meme I once saw while helping one of my clients with his decluttering project. "Working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don't need." Doesn't it sum up the way we are living our lives? This continues to bring me back to Henry David...
Why Every Child Should Learn Robotics Now: Instant Engagement, Creativity, and Future Skills
I've been teaching robotics since 2017, first at in person classes, then virtually during the pandemic and now back to in person, and there's a common theme. When it comes to robotics, its instant engagement. Everytime I teach a robotics class, I am amazed at the...