Dr. Sherry Turkle, who also studies those connections at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that she considers a core part of her work to be teaching people that artificial intelligence isn’t real but rather a brilliant “parlor trick” without a consciousness.
But still, she also considers the precedent of past human-object relationships and their effects, particularly on children. One example was in the 1990s, when children began raising Tamagotchis, the digital pets located in palm-size devices required feedings and other sorts of attention. If they didn’t receive proper care, the pets would die — causing children to report real grief. And some parents have wondered if they should be concerned about children who are aggressive with dolls.
In the case of A.I. powered bots, Dr. Turkle argued that they are “alive enough.”
“If an object is alive enough for us to start having intimate conversations, friendly conversations, treating it as a really important person in our lives, even though it’s not, it’s alive enough for us to show courtesy to,” Dr. Turkle said.