Summary: Robotics experts say AI technology can help alleviate loneliness.. New research shows that AI companionship can offer social interaction and help people practice social skills, breaking the cycle of isolation.
However, he cautions that regulation may be needed to prevent over-reliance on AI. AI's potential in this area could lead to significant advances in understanding both human and artificial intelligence.
Important facts:
- AI companionship: AI technology can offer social interaction to combat loneliness.
- Health effects: Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26 percent and is linked to a variety of health problems.
- Regulation is needed.: Potential risks include consumer over-reliance on AI, which requires regulation.
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology could offer companionship to lonely people amid a global loneliness epidemic, a robotics expert says.
Tony Prescott, professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, argues in his new book. The psychology of artificial intelligence that 'relationships with AIs can help people' with forms of social interaction.
Loneliness seriously harms human health, and Professor Prescott makes a case that advances in AI technology could offer a partial solution.
He argues that people can move towards isolation, becoming increasingly disconnected as their confidence declines, and that AI can 'reverse the cycle' by giving people a way to practice and improve their social skills. can help 'break'.
The Loneliness Effect
According to a 2023 report, loneliness – or social isolation – is more harmful to human health than obesity. It can increase the risk of premature death by 26 percent and is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety.
The scale of the problem is staggering: 3.8 million people in the UK are experiencing chronic loneliness. A Harvard study in the US found that 36% of American adults and 61% of young adults suffer from severe loneliness.
Professor Prescott says: “In an age when many people describe their lives as lonely, there may be value in having AI companionship as a form of interpersonal social interaction that is stimulating and personalised. Human loneliness is often characterized by a downward spiral in which loneliness reduces self-esteem, which discourages further interaction with people.
“There may be ways in which AI companionship can help break this cycle by helping people maintain or improve feelings of self-worth and social skills. can help find companionship, both human and artificial.”
He suggests that this is not without risk, however, as it 'can be designed to keep consumers interacting for longer and longer periods of time and encourage them to come back', and suggests that regulations may be required.
AI and the human mind
Prescott is a leading expert on the relationship between the human mind and AI, combining expertise in robotics and AI with psychology and philosophy. He contributes to the scientific understanding of the human condition by researching the reproduction of cognition, memory, and emotion in artificial beings.
As well as researching and teaching cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, Prescott is also co-founder of Sheffield Robotics, a center for robotics research.
I The psychology of artificial intelligencePrescott explores the nature of the human brain and its cognitive processes and compares it to the way AI is developing.
The book investigates questions including:
- Are computers really like brains?
- Will AI overtake humans?
- Does AI have the potential to be creative?
- Will giving AI a robotic body enable it to develop a new kind of intelligence?
- Can AI help us tackle climate change?
- And can humans 'piggyback' on AI to increase their intelligence?
He concluded: “As psychology and AI advance, this partnership should unlock further insights into both natural and artificial intelligence. It could help answer some important questions about what it means to be human. What it means and what it means for humans to coexist with AI.
About this AI and loneliness research news
the author: Becky Parker-Ellis
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
contact: Becky Parker-Ellis – Taylor & Francis Group
Image: This image is credited to Neuroscience News.
Original Research: Book, “The psychology of artificial intelligenceAvailable to buy online.