Warning: This article deals with the topics of anxiety and depression and may be triggering for some readers.
Part One: Chatbot Love
The date is January 5, 2024. You have a chatbot extension attached to your Tinder profile. It messages girls, guys, and enbies. But don’t worry, this AI has been trained on over 500,000 group chat messages that you’ve sent.
On January 6, this AI writes the same way that you write. It jokes the same way that you joke. It also pretends to feel what you can feel.
On February 17, you match with a girl you really dig. Your chatbot extension then goes to work. Her chatbot extension also goes to work. The banter between these chatbots is palpable.
On May 27, your chatbot extension writes “I love you” for the very first time. Her chatbot responds, “I feel the same way.”
The date is January 9, 2025. You’re getting married. You feel so incredibly isolated. You don’t know what to say in your vows. You turn to ChatGPT for advice.
Part Two: The AI Group Chat
My pals, I’m not kidding. I really think that this is the future that we’re sprinting towards. We’re in the middle of a loneliness epidemic, and super soon, we might have the chatbots messaging our friends and family for us.
But why do I think this? Well, it’s because the tech’s already almost there.
In 2023, a data scientist named Izzy Miller downloaded 500,000 messages that a bunch of his friends had sent him. He then fed these group chat words through a ChatGPT-esque AI model. Miller then taught this AI to write like each of his mates, and the results were eerily error-free.
“I was really surprised at the degree to which the model inherently learned things about who we were, not just the way we speak,” said Miller. “It knows things about who we’re dating, where we went to school, the name of our house we lived in, et cetera.”
What’s more, Miller was able to make this project over a few weekends with around $100. Apparently, making an AI chatbot that impersonates your group chat mates is an efficient task to do.
Now, if someone like Miller can make a dystopian future in several arvos, then there’s no way that this tech isn’t coming for the rest of us. I’d be so surprised if our messaging services don’t get chatbotted in 2023.
However, I’d happily be proven wrong. ‘Cause, as I’ve already mentioned, we’re already in a loneliness epidemic.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, one in three Australians reported experiencing an episode of loneliness between the years 2001 and 2009. This was before social media exacerbated the situation. This was before COVID-19. Both social media and COVID have made our loneliness epidemic a lot worse.
So, my pals, all of this to say, I’m worried about the future. I’m worried that the AI chatbots will start writing our group chats messages for us. I’m worried that this will be another nail in the connection coffin. I’m worried ‘cause sometimes I’m lonely. And I’m worried that my tech might make this worse.
Related: OpenAI Will Pay You $30,000 to Find Bugs in ChatGPT
Related: ChatGPT DAN — Users Have Hacked The AI Chatbot to Make It Evil
If this article brings up any issues for you or anyone you know, or you think you may be experiencing loneliness or need support with your mental health, please contact your GP or in Australia, contact Lifeline (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or Beyond Blue (1300 22 4636), all of which provide trained counsellors you can talk with 24/7.
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