Entry Three: Hath thou a new best friend - ChatGPT?
By the light!
For this worship reading, the homework given by our grandmaster Katta shall be touched upon.
By the grandmaster’s wishes, I have researched and researched and had multiple confused looks upon my face. Due to absence during the last reading, I could only try to decipher the posted online messages. What is this fascinating thing - conceptual sampling? Master oh master, if only I had attended thou lecture.
But here you get my unworthy attempt at the master’s task.
The first topic I want to tackle is online friendship. Especially how the new advancements of technology can play into it. The whole world was raving about ChatGPT and its amazing capabilities to produce coherent text. Not only can you ask for information which will be provided in a (more or less) well summarized manner, but you can also casually talk to it. Having read some applications for an event about AI I helped organize , it was interesting to read how at least one participant argued that ChatGPT was almost a friend to him. It was off putting at first, but the more I thought about it, the better I understood that it can almost mimic a real person, therefore the feeling of friendship for the user is not too far fetched. Could ChatGPT provide a “warm” shoulder to cry on for people, that have a hard time finding friends? Could it help persons who are not able to easily leave their homes to feel like there is someone they can talk to? If yes - where is the line to unhealthy relationships with a computer?
There is also something called Replika, an application that offers an “AI companion who cares”. You can select if you are looking for a friend, partner or mentor, design the person and then interact with them all the time. With a 3D avatar-friend you can now tackle life with all its glory. It has similar qualities to ChatGPT, but also offers a “face” to talk to, so there is a personification of the AI going on.
But not only AI is strong with friendships. Also some dating apps have focused on offering a wider variety of relationships to look for. Like Bumble also has the opportunity to switch from Dating to Friendship mode. In that mode you can swipe on who your potential friend might be, basically like the dating function.
And if you are not into any of these options, there is of course always Reddit. Want some friends? Find a subreddit you want to join and hate on some people - I am sure some like minded person will help you destroy whoever you just wanted to mob. Maybe an unethical way to find friends, but hey - at least you have one more now - right? You little fuc— <3
So yeah. Friends are fun. But you know what’s also fun? Self expression! And boy oh boy, there are so many options out there.
The first example I will give to you is Graffiti. Having ideas, going out there, placing them on walls for everyone to see and create a statement - that is a true form of self expression. Banksy is a famous graffiti artist, who is not afraid to call out injustices. They have created multiple pieces to state their dismay about political situations. An example would be in Bethlehem, where they placed an artwork of a crib with Mary, Joseph and Jesus right in front of a wall with a bullet hole.
Kind of like graffiti, but only on the skin, could be tattoos - always depending on one’s style of course. Tattoos are a possibility to turn oneself into art. The skin turns into canvas. This is a very old technique for self expression, dating back over thousands of years. They were used as punishments or sort of group associations, but by now in the western world they are most commonly used as self expression.
But - sometimes it is a scary thought that this will hold up a lifetime. So some cool scientists have come up with Skintillates - which is a technology to mimic tattoos on the body. Just imagine the possibilities of self expression if those tattoos could change depending on what you want it to be!
And lastly, there are also piercings that can be used for self expression. Pieces of jewelry on your body to show the world who you are. Setting a statement. Funnily enough often judged by especially older generations, but when referring to earrings as tattoos “it’s different”. Well, you cannot make everyone happy, I guess.
Yond wast mine own two cents. I hope the grand master accepts this offering of conceptual sampling.
Bask in the radiance of the enlightener!
frog?
