Summary: Robotics experts say AI technology could help alleviate loneliness. New research suggests that an artificial intelligence society can offer social interaction and help people practice social skills, breaking the cycle of loneliness.
However, they warn that regulation may be needed to prevent over-reliance on AI. The potential of artificial intelligence in this area could lead to significant advances in the understanding of both human and artificial intelligence.
Key facts:
- AI Company: AI technology can offer social interaction to combat loneliness.
- Effect on health: Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26% and is associated with various health problems.
- Regulation needed: Potential risks include users becoming too dependent on AI, which requires regulation.
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology could offer companionship to lonely people amid an international loneliness epidemic, a robotics expert says.
Tony Prescott, professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, claims in his new book The psychology of artificial intelligence that “relationships with artificial intelligence could support humans” through social interaction.
Loneliness has been found to be seriously damaging to human health, and Professor Prescott makes the case that advances in AI technology could offer a partial solution.
He argues that people can spiral into loneliness, becoming increasingly disconnected as their self-esteem declines, and that AI can help people “break the cycle” by giving them a way to practice and improve their social skills.
The impact of loneliness
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% and is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety.
The scale of the problem is staggering: 3.8 million people in the UK experience chronic loneliness. A Harvard study in the US found that 36% of US adults – and 61% of young adults – experience severe loneliness.
Professor Prescott says: “In an age where many people describe their lives as lonely, having AI company can be valuable as a form of reciprocal social interaction that is stimulating and personalised. Human loneliness is often characterized by a downward spiral in which isolation leads to lower self-esteem, which discourages further interaction with people.
“There may be ways that AI could help break this cycle by scaffolding feelings of self-worth and helping to maintain or improve social skills. If so, relationships with artificial intelligence could help humans find companionship with both humans and artificial humans.”
However, he suggests that this is not without risk as it could be “designed to encourage users to interact for longer and longer periods and keep them coming back”, and suggests that regulation may be needed.
AI and the human brain
Prescott is a leading expert on the relationship between the human brain and artificial intelligence, combining expertise in robotics and artificial intelligence with psychology and philosophy. It contributes to the scientific understanding of the human condition by researching the re-creation of perception, memory and emotion in synthetic entities.
In addition to researching and teaching cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, Prescott is also co-founder of Sheffield Robotics, a center for robotics research.
in The psychology of artificial intelligencePrescott explores the nature of the human mind and its cognitive processes and compares and contrasts them with the way AI is evolving.
The book addresses issues including:
- Are computers really like brains?
- Will AI outperform humans?
- Does artificial intelligence have the ability to be creative?
- Would giving AI a robotic body allow her to create new types of intelligence?
- Could artificial intelligence help us tackle climate change?
- And could humans “glue” AI to augment their own intelligence?
He concludes, “As psychology and artificial intelligence continue to evolve, this partnership should unlock further insights into both natural and artificial intelligence. This could help answer some key questions about what it means to be human and for humans to live alongside AI.”
About this research news on AI and loneliness
Author: Becky Parker-Ellis
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Contact: Becky Parker-Ellis – Taylor and Francis Group
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: The book, “The psychology of artificial intelligence” is available for purchase online.