Dear Gillian,
The use of artificial intelligence seems to have exploded over the last several months! It is effectively used by students and professionals. Parents tell me they use it to text kids, couples share that they use it to tackle tough subjects with each other, and friends use it when they are unsure how to handle a disagreement or argument.
The benefits of AI are significant and still emerging. But I’m not sure that it is all good.
I notice that sometimes people use AI to approach challenges–especially emotional ones. Instead of thinking deeply and working through tough, sometimes stressful or awkward interactions with the other person, they ask AI to create the solution to their problem.
However, AI doesn’t have the ability to understand the emotional nuances of human interaction, so AI’s solution will miss this important aspect of relationships, potentially causing an even deeper disconnect, rather than repairing a rift.
So, instead of relying fully on AI, here are some suggestions to benefit from it without losing the human component:
- Use AI to help you gain insight and collect information. Then use this insight as only a part of your communication. In addition to AI, speak to others, read articles, and think about your own feelings.
- Resist the urge to lean on AI to generate actual communication with others. Rather, once you’ve used it for research, use your own thoughts, feelings and ideas to communicate with the other person.
- Consider communicating in-person or via phone/video chat, rather than via text or email. This can feel more scary, but it will make communication clearer and less likely to be misunderstood.
The bottom line: Artificial intelligence has enormous benefits. But, don’t let it take the place of true human interaction. If you struggle to know how to communicate in challenging situations, speak to other human beings to help you figure it out (in addition to using AI a little!)