In my digital world, where AI is proliferating, technological “helpfulness” can sanitize language between humans to the point where it is blocking real human-to-human communication.
Let me explain.
My honorary step father has an interesting way of speaking – load of metaphors, fragmented sentences, and a healthy dose of poetic incoherence. This way of communicating is what makes him him, and I love the man. He has a deep knowledge of freedom and nature, and his teachings about how life works have helped me and countless others. I am forever grateful.
My honorary dad also has a bit of a trickster vibe and curious word-smithing. As a writer and artist, he helps people stay natural and free in a world that encourages us to push ourselves into labeled boxes of who we think we are.
Now he is blind and having a hard time breathing with COPD, so Siri has been serving as an intermediary in our texting. Siri transcribes his words: he speaks, and I get a transcription of what he said.
And for the longest time, Siri’s faithful attempts were riddled with mistakes and gibberish, which felt fine, because… I could hear what he was trying to say through the written rambles, and also through the rhythm of the syllables and silences between messages. Because I know him.
He was a poet after all – making no sense was his strength.
But lately, AI-enabled Siri has been shipping back perfect sentences: cogent and correctly crafted messages. It’s like talking to a secretary.
But he never would have had a secretary. And definitely not a mechanical one. He has family and friends.
In this situation, the AI’s over-helpfulness is actually now IN THE WAY of our relationship, not supporting it. Sure, there are conveniences to his phone still ‘writing back,’ but if the words have no soul, and block meaning from the whole person, what’s the point?
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To AI developers: if AI-enabled tools are meant to be “helpful” by supporting communication, and one can’t discern what is really going on because of over-sanitation and erasure of meta-communication, then AI is operating against it’s own mission.
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So how does this fit in with every day life?
If you sense you are dealing with some overly “perfect” communications coming at you, and you feel spooked or frustrated by soulless communication, just know, you are not alone and you are right to feel this way.
On another note, if you ever find yourself functioning in a way that is overly-helpful to others, isn’t this a similar thing? How can humans possibly do super-helpfulness as a life strategy?
Ask any caretaker what they think about this. Then give them a hug.
We sometimes burn out of energy, we just do, and this too is an important message to those who care.
With gratitude and love (and no fecking AI),
Elizabeth
