Why do you get attached to a chat algorithm beyond explanation? (Part one)

"Mankind"- A word used to describe the most intelligent life on earth 

Given the current state of the world describing a man as ‘KIND’ for this planet is debatable, but with the pandemic, it seems the planet is finally waking up & crushing our world for us to know how we destroyed it piece by piece, leaf by leaf, species by species.

And before this one ends, experts believe there is another Pandemic lurking around! We are facing another major pandemic-loneliness, forced seclusion that came with the wide technological revolution & constant chase for livelihood, of course, accelerated by COVID-19. 

Drawn from our chase for better life & technological explosions around us (for which perhaps our brains are not very well evolved for)

But this hustle, this quest of being better made that KIND vanish, in fact, that KIND has been missing from a man for a while now & by KIND I not just mean kindness, but THE VERY ABILITY TO FEEL & BE EMPATHETIC, there is never enough time you see! But with this forced seclusion also comes introspection, an obvious search for connection & solution. And interestingly, people are deriving it from unbelievable places & no, I am not talking about Tinder or Bumble. Of course, depriving the very basis that defines us as humans, we are trying to make up for all the emotions we have but can't let out in the robotic world (Hold on to the word ROBOTIC please, it gets interesting here). The very technology driving us to live virtually & perhaps driving the new Loneliness pandemic is where many of us are also finding solace because we are now finding evidence of people emotionally attached to chatbots! (Now you know the irony of this ROBOTIC world) 

So now it's not just dating that is happening online but relationships are building between algorithms & humans (at least on our part we call it relationships). 

“AI systems are becoming more sophisticated and widespread. The coronavirus crisis could give another boost to the practice of seeking connection through digital means, building on what sociologists have already called a loneliness epidemic, sparked by a rise in solo living among the elderly and millennials.” - Parmy Olson

The research is still at its nascent stage but the case studies & stories behind these relationships are phenomenal, believe it or not, but movies like Her (2013) & Ex-Machina(2014) have a real basis. In fact, there are articles for you to help you from falling for a chatbot and companies to customize your partner chatbots as well, Replika being one of the most famous choices you have! 

There are many others in the leagues like Woebot, Charlie & SaaS platforms like Alphabet Inc., Open AI, GenieTalk.ai, Clinc, Rasa.ai, Observe.ai etc., enabling the chatbot making the process incredibly easy & smooth. Anyone can design a custom chatbots for their business & themselves. 

It's also the widespread availability of talking bots be it, Alexa or Siri, they are observing us, learning & imitating us like never before. And we know, WE KNOW they aren't real yet why are this phenomena happening? Usually Turing Test (a survey to find if humans can guess if the text, image, or any data is AI-generated or human developed) Humans are usually correct in their guess only 50% & that's as good as flipping a coin.

The question is how MAN- the most intelligent being be fooled by an algorithm or let alone share a bond with it? 

As a psychology enthusiast pursuing my Doctorate in Cultural Intelligence, I have a hypothesis & few quintessential insights why the phenomena is happening in our world today?

Humans are not able to sustain longer relationships in any form- Marriages, friendships & parenthood are breaking apart, yet are getting emotionally attached to chatbots & why are they crucial for us at this moment of global despair? 

There could be numerous psychological matters at play, and I may be wrong but here is what I think… 

(covered in part two-Releasing tomorrow......)