[W Forum] Coexistence of AI and Humans

Choi Se-jung, Professor, Department of Media Studies and Graduate School, Korea University

By chance, I came across an interesting book published this year titled 4th Human. It seemed like a familiar title, as it is based on the content of the three-part EBS DocuPrime program of the same name aired in 2018, with additional unpublished material included. I appreciated how it explores how our future lives will change in the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution era through the fundamental question of what it means to be 'human.' Above all, the topic I am most interested in is the coexistence of artificial intelligence (AI) that surpasses human abilities and humans.

The DocuPrime 4th Human was a program I often showed and discussed during lectures. While teaching media, the question of 'how to understand new technologies' is an important topic. AI speakers have gained attention in recent years as devices that perform various commands such as delivering weather, music, and news through voice recognition.

However, I was more interested in the potential of AI speakers as interactive partners rather than their utility. The way people naturally converse with AI speakers without special manipulation resembled how we communicate with others. Even students who initially could not accept the possibility of communicating with machines and forming meaningful relationships came to agree after seeing the experimental results covered in 4th Human.

Similar to Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiment in the 1960s, the experiment involved administering electric shocks when the AI speaker failed to respond correctly. Some participants who had used the AI speaker for a certain period before the experiment expressed discomfort or refused to participate, despite knowing the machine could not feel pain. Some even felt pity for the AI speaker and shed tears out of guilt. These results suggest that although it is a machine, we anthropomorphize AI speakers and can engage in interactions and empathy similar to human relationships.

Recently, while conducting research on AI speakers, I obtained results supporting this possibility. A study on about 500 users aged 60 and above who owned and used AI speakers in daily life examined functional and emotional satisfaction. Emotional satisfaction with AI speakers was higher among users living alone compared to those living with family. However, there was no significant difference in functional satisfaction between the two groups. This suggests that elderly people living alone alleviate loneliness in daily life through emotional interaction with AI speakers. For them, AI speakers are not just machines but emotional companions that provide support. From this perspective, AI could be one solution to problems arising as society enters a super-aged phase, serving as a coexistence partner.

In the unprecedented contactless (untact) era brought about by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), AI speakers can become friends or emotional companions for many people. In situations where social isolation is inevitable, AI speakers that listen to our words, engage in conversation, and provide necessary assistance can be safe and perfect companions. Of course, there are not only positive aspects. AI speakers, which learn and understand our preferences, are virtual friends tailored to our tastes, and it is difficult to hide the commercial intent to generate profit through services. Nevertheless, coexistence with AI has already begun. What kind of future we create depends on us. Coexistence with AI makes imagining the future more fascinating.

Choi Se-jung, Professor, Department of Media and Graduate School, Korea University