Superhumane

One thing millions of people experienced for the first time in 2023 is how responsive, present, and patient conversational AI models can be. So while these models are explicitly not conscious or self-aware, they are, in their own statistically probable way, superhumane.?

The interesting consequence of this was really brought home for me in two conversations I had on my Possible podcast with Mustafa Suleyman , my co-founder at Inflection AI, and Maja Mataric , a computer science professor at USC Viterbi School of Engineering who designs socially assistive robots.

Both stressed how different kinds of AI simulating empathy can end up having a profound impact on humanity at large. As Mustafa suggested, not everyone has reliable access to human kindness and support. But when that becomes something you do have "always on tap," it ends up increasing your own capacity for "being able to be kind to other people."?

According to Maja, she and her colleagues have designed robots that "behave empathetically to the user and, in that way, make the user more empathetic." And as Maja explained, numerous studies have shown that behaving empathetically improves physical health.?

So imagine the compounding effects we are likely to see in 2024 and beyond as people integrate models like ChatGPT and Pi more fully into their lives. Along with getting smarter and more productive, we could be getting nicer, healthier, and more emotionally generous in our interactions with others. I think the full potential of this is going to be a much bigger deal than people realize.

Shared as part of LinkedIn's #BigIdeas2024 collection