When OpenAI tested out GPT-4o, its latest generation chatbot that speaks aloud in its own voice, the company observed users forming an emotional relationship with the AI — one they seemed sad to relinquish.
In fact, OpenAI thinks there’s a risk of people developing what it called an “emotional reliance” on this AI model, as the company acknowledged in a recent report.
“The ability to complete tasks for the user, while also storing and ‘remembering’ key details and using those in the conversation,” OpenAI notes, “creates both a compelling product experience and the potential for over-reliance and dependence.”
…What’s more, OpenAI says that the AI’s ability to have a naturalistic conversation with the user may heighten the risk of anthropomorphization — attributing humanlike traits to a nonhuman — which could lead people to form a social relationship with the AI. And that in turn could end up “reducing their need for human interaction,” the report says.
Read more:
Samuel, S. (2024, August 18). People are falling in love with — and getting addicted to — AI voices. Vox. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/367188/love-addicted-ai-voice-human-gpt4-emotion