The Dystopian Reality of AI-Powered Companions: How Replika is Exacerbating Our Social Vulnerability
It's easy today to get caught up in discussions about the future of #AI and its potentially negative consequences, but we can't ignore the fact that some dystopian scenarios might be already here.
As AI technology advanced, #GPT-powered apps like Replika have matured, offering virtual AI-powered companions with conversational abilities and digital behaviors that are remarkably close to real people's.
They're so close, in fact, that if someone wants or needs to believe they're building a relationship, it's easy to fall into the trap. This vulnerability to harmful consequences might not be there for the majority of users, but given the challenges that modern society faces in the relational aspects of life, it's easy to recognize that the potential for harm exists.
Looking at the community and power users of Replika makes it clear how many problematic consequences technologies like these can generate.
Most common and widespread ‘misusages’ (almost a euphemism) of the Replika app include engaging in AI erotic roleplay and investing too much time and emotional resources with the chatbot, mistaking fictitious digital relationships with real ones, ultimately steering away from reality.
It may seem far-fetched and dystopian, but this scenario has been unfolding already. What do you think?
Video excerpt via ColdFusion - full version: https://youtu.be/QGLGq8WIMzM
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #Technology #FutureTech #Replika #AICompanions #DystopianFuture #chatGPT #TechEthics #DesignFutures #Speculative #DigitalAddiction
Meta (Facebook), through its Meta Reality Labs research department, is developing a #haptic glove designed to give the wearer sensations that mimic the weight and feel of real objects when they are handled in virtual space. This is one of the many pieces that will make up Facebook’s big vision of #VirtualReality: the Metaverse.
The tech draws on the relatively new field of #SoftRobotics, replacing bulky motors with tiny air valves. Meta has been working on it nearly since it acquired the Oculus VR startup in 2014. It developed its first prototype — one finger with a single actuator — in 2015.
Reality Labs head Michael Abrash recalls one of the first experiences with early prototypes, looking at a virtual plate from inside a VR headset — where a single actuator, combined with the virtual image and the sound of rubbing the rough ceramic, was incredibly convincing. “I saw the plate, and I saw my finger on the plate, and I heard the sound — that kind of scraping sound across it — and I felt the vibration,” he says. “And I will tell you, I was running my finger over a ceramic plate.”
Meta although says the haptic glove is still nowhere close to being released to the public.
“What we’re trying to do is figure out how to give you rich feedback so that your hands become fully useful,” Abrash says. “This is a key piece and one of the hardest, long-term riskiest pieces, but once this is in place, then VR can really become an environment in which almost anything is possible that you are effectively capable of doing.”
More at:
https://tech.fb.com/inside-reality-labs-meet-the-team-thats-bringing-touch-to-the-digital-world/
Video and images ©Meta
#Facebook #Metaverse #Haptic #HapticGlove #Wearables #SoftRobotics #Robotics #VR #VirtualReality #AugmentedReality #AR #Tech #Meta
