How AI is Shaping our Perceptions & Transforming our World
Simulations have transformed the way we see the world.
Simulations are copies of reality, and as they grow and multiply, they drown out the underlying reality, leading to a situation in which we first and foremost see the copies and take them as reality.
This affects us on every level, from who we date to our relationships and even our self-image.
Take Instagram, for example. Images are often filtered, edited, and manipulated to idealized perfection, which has been shown to have a devastating effect on girls and young women’s self-esteem. They don’t feel they measure up.
Our perception of beauty sets up our dating expectations.
Dating Apps promise connections but often base matches on superficial factors. The algorithm is designed to give us fun but meaningless matches instead of highly compatible ones.
Our news feeds are no longer just information but algorithmically tailored streams designed to captivate, prioritize engagement, and confirm our beliefs.
Even our conversations are shifting. We interact with AI chatbots that mimic human emotions so convincingly we often forget they lack consciousness.
These technological interfaces influence how we see the world and ourselves.
They distort our perception of reality and subtly and persistently guide our values and aspirations.
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We measure ourselves against the synthetic benchmarks, planning our futures around digitally induced goals.
And as AI grows more sophisticated, we are ushering in a new era of mediated reality, where artificial interactions become more common than authentic ones.
Here are 10 Ways AI affects our Perceptions and will Transform our World:
1. Anthropomorphism of AI Agents
People often anthropomorphize AI, attributing human-like qualities to it. This helps individuals make sense of AI even though it is not valid.
This anthropomorphizing is not benign. It will lead to pseudo relationships that look and feel like the real thing but aren't, as we will see below.
2. What is Beauty?
Studies show that people unaware of the content source prefer AI-generated content. However, when they know the content is AI-generated, they are biased towards human-created content, demonstrating "human favoritism."
When the beauty of a piece of content is based on who created it rather than on its own merit, the notion of beauty as a real thing breaks down.
This simultaneously makes us question our creative abilities and detaches us from beauty.
3. Personalized AI-Generated Content
Soon, AI will be able to create highly engaging and personalized content designed to keep you glued to your seat.
4. Fake News & Deep Fakes
AI content is already flooding the internet, feeding and training other AI content, and this has not gone unnoticed. Flooding our information space with fake news is now easier than ever, and many are already taking advantage.
Soon, we won’t even be able to trust our eyes with deep fakes. Just look at how good the Deep Fake below is and remind yourself that this technology just got started.
5. Superficiality
AI systems shape our perception of reality by focusing on quantifiable data. This can lead to a narrowed view of the world, emphasizing measurable aspects while potentially neglecting unquantifiable elements like relationships and spiritual values.
We give up the real conversation, spending real time with real people for online likes and interactions.
6. Synthetic Relationships
As people interact more frequently with AI, their perceptions of AI's qualities are reinforced, which can lead to an increased belief in AI's ability to think and feel like humans. Many people will prefer synthetic relationships with AI over real ones with people.
We are already seeing this with ReplicaAI, which builds AI Friends and Companions. And this is just the beginning. There are already AI Sex Robots and even a Cyber-brothel in Germany.
7. Who are you Really Talking To?
AI systems are increasingly capable of detecting and responding to human emotions. People are already using AI to text them on dating apps, making us wonder who we are talking to.
So even when you are talking to a friend, you might actually be talking to an AI.
8. AI Reality Filter
Soon, you’ll be able to make your partner look like anyone you want. This is a mixed reality in which ‘the simulation’ is literally projected on ‘the real.’
You can also see an extension of this, where everyone sees a different world through their AR/VR glasses.
9. AI’s Impact on Cultural Influences
Imagine a world where AI can create any kind of content and produce any type of experience, many of which are illegal today.
Is that moral? Is it ethical?
At the very least, this will push the Overton Window of what is socially acceptable, which will have profound ramifications for our society.
10. AI's Role in Shaping Social Norms
In a society where everything becomes possible through simulations, we begin to lose trust in what we see and experience.
Things no longer have any weight and, at the very least, are superficially deep. We look for pleasure and to collect meaningless trinkets to impress others.
We have given up the real for the simulation then finding meaning and purpose are like trying to find love at a Cyber-brothel.
We are entering a world where everything is possible, and nothing means anything.
In such a highly simulated world, where nothing means anything, then trust and morality begin to break down.