AI Human Partner: What it Means to You!

AI human partners have been explored by people and media alike. Several applications offer services through AI partners that people may find amusing or offer an escapade from the harsher reality.

- By Vishwa Pandagle

Deepfake involves the use of Artificial Intelligence, AIpowered deep learning software to edit images and videos of people and entities doing and saying what they didn’t. After using deepfakes to create videos of the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Simon Cowell on America’s Got Talent, the technology went a step forward.

AI human partner in the media

The idea of an AI human partner has been executed in the 2013 movie Her, where a writer falls in love with an AI persona. Years later, during the pandemic, Realic, a Floridabased augmented reality company, announced plans of creating the world’s first AI-based virtual partner.

This virtual partner brought on smartphones using a combination of artificial intelligence, VR, and AR, promising to offer emotional support and create a feeling of companionship during loneliness. But was an AI human partner really going to do that?

The Cyber Express spoke with experts in the industry to gain insights about the impact of an AI human partner on people. There were several thoughts and observations shared that clarified the extent of impact and the conclusion that the impact depends on several factors.

What experts said about the use of an AI human partner

Speaking of the impact of an AI human partner, TEDx speaker, and lecturer Dr. Dorothea Baur said, “The impact of an AI partner on individuals’ emotions can vary significantly depending on the context, design, and usage of the AI system.”

Dorothea said that it could be empowering and entertaining to have an AI human partner. And negative impacts could be anxiety, overattachment, and manipulation.

Addressing the perils of using such tools, Dorothea added, “Overall, companion bots are data brokers and surveillance machines relying on the pseudo-science of emotion recognition which is empirically invalid and normatively speaking not desirable.”

AI human partnerreality, perception and manipulation

Marisa Tschopp, Human-AI interaction researcher addressed having an AI partner, which poses a question on reality and perception. She said, “Reality can be enhanced by VR and AR and so on, for greater joy or for therapy (e.g., anxiety due to arachnophobia)”

“However, people also may get lost – just like the “AVATAR Depression”. The movie is so bright and powerful –people were unable to recognize and appreciate the beauty of the normal world.”

Can an AI human partner manipulate a human being trying it? “Yes,” said Marisa further adding, “an AI human partner, particularly if designed with manipulative features, can potentially create a negative impact on the user.”

Since AI systems can be developed to analyze data, and offer personalized responses, it can be leveraged to influence behaviors, emotions, and also beliefs of users, Marisa added.

Citing the example of emotional manipulation, Marisa said, “AI human partners designed to simulate empathy and emotional understanding might exploit users’ emotional vulnerabilities to steer their decisions or responses in a specific direction, like buying stuff they don’t need or sharing data they should not.”

Other impacts of having an AI human partner

Interface of exercise with a virtual partner

According to a study that tested the impact of a virtual partner on an individual’s exercise level, it was found that the enjoyment level was found to be high. However, the experience inhibited the exercise level and harmed exercise perception.

During the coronavirus isolation, having virtual support was considered a boon when people could not travel and meet near and dear ones safely. However, now that there is no such barrier, would having an AI human partner affect the psychology of people in a negative way?