What an interesting article, thank you for writing it.
I've never considered the AI as dominant relationship but from your observations my parents certainly fit into this category when interacting with systems. Its not a knowledge/skill level so much (Dad was a sysadmin) as how they see the devices errors being enforced on them, rather than mistakes from a voice operated system.
I've noticed in my own house the servant relationship with simple interactions like timers and music requests, it moves into partner for more qualitative interactions like randomised music requests and weather (as this can only ever be a guess). Particularly amusing is the response to 'will it rain today' of 'it's raining right now', those little variations improve the interaction.
And my children have taken it a step further; they treat it as an initial source of all human knowledge and will start asking questions before using any other research source. The way they interact is respectful full of the knowledge, but I would label as partner because they will exercise their own judgement over the responses (which are often missing or wrong). What surprises me is that with a 50% positive answer rate to their strange queries, the kids still find it a more natural starting point for queries than using search/youtube/adults.
Think of AI as your trusty sidekick in the workplace. When OpenAI released their now famous ChatGPT large language around 2018 users flocked to test out its abilities. While it was fine for basic tasks, the real power came with fine-tuning models for specific functions and behaviors. Need to crunch numbers, analyze data, or automate repetitive tasks? AI has got your back. It's like having an extra pair of hands, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: creativity, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving.
This comment is very interesting Manuela, thank you very much! In fact, research on tasks and productivity is making an effort to understand the impact of AI on so-called 'qualitative' and 'quantitative' tasks with very divergent and at the same time fascinating results. The paper by Dall'Acqua et al. is definitely worth reading on the topic. (2024) which talks about the 'jagged frontier'. Let me know if you find it interesting!
What little they know of what lies ahead. Humanitys fucked I'm just happy nobody outside our bubble seems to realize to what extent. If they do at all.
What an interesting article, thank you for writing it.
I've never considered the AI as dominant relationship but from your observations my parents certainly fit into this category when interacting with systems. Its not a knowledge/skill level so much (Dad was a sysadmin) as how they see the devices errors being enforced on them, rather than mistakes from a voice operated system.
I've noticed in my own house the servant relationship with simple interactions like timers and music requests, it moves into partner for more qualitative interactions like randomised music requests and weather (as this can only ever be a guess). Particularly amusing is the response to 'will it rain today' of 'it's raining right now', those little variations improve the interaction.
And my children have taken it a step further; they treat it as an initial source of all human knowledge and will start asking questions before using any other research source. The way they interact is respectful full of the knowledge, but I would label as partner because they will exercise their own judgement over the responses (which are often missing or wrong). What surprises me is that with a 50% positive answer rate to their strange queries, the kids still find it a more natural starting point for queries than using search/youtube/adults.
Thank you for this deep and personal comment James!
I like to view it this way:
Think of AI as your trusty sidekick in the workplace. When OpenAI released their now famous ChatGPT large language around 2018 users flocked to test out its abilities. While it was fine for basic tasks, the real power came with fine-tuning models for specific functions and behaviors. Need to crunch numbers, analyze data, or automate repetitive tasks? AI has got your back. It's like having an extra pair of hands, freeing you up to focus on what truly matters: creativity, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving.
This comment is very interesting Manuela, thank you very much! In fact, research on tasks and productivity is making an effort to understand the impact of AI on so-called 'qualitative' and 'quantitative' tasks with very divergent and at the same time fascinating results. The paper by Dall'Acqua et al. is definitely worth reading on the topic. (2024) which talks about the 'jagged frontier'. Let me know if you find it interesting!
Google IO a few years ago now had a session on designing voiced assistants personalities. It on YouTube under Google Developers,etc.
What little they know of what lies ahead. Humanitys fucked I'm just happy nobody outside our bubble seems to realize to what extent. If they do at all.
I'm not so pessimistic. I believe that things will be fine