For Your Consideration

The question of how one feels about AI becoming more advanced and being put into society as a normal thing is hard to answer. There are so many opinions that are giving on the subject. The choice of totally rejecting the idea and AI in general. The choice of only having AI in society in certain cases. The opinion of absolutely having AI become apart of the normal day-to-day life. With so many opinions to take into mind, it makes it hard to answer the question when so many others may disagree.

In the Black Mirror, episode “Be Right Back,” a glimpse of what life would be like having an AI replicate and replace a lost loved one is given. Martha loses Ash, her husband, and is given a technological way of grieving him. She starts off with just having her way of reconnection to Ash just be through messaging, that’s based on what Ash would be like based on his social media, but it wasn’t enough. She takes the next step of talking to Ash through actual calls. In this time, she finds out she’s pregnant and drops the phone while talking to the “Ash.” This leads to her being hysterical and crying as if she has lost Ash all over again. This shows how connected she felt to even just being able to talk to Ash, even if it is fake, and how far real she thought “Ash” to be. Later, she is convinced by the “Ash” on the phone to upgrade him into an actual full-bodied AI version of Ash. She agrees and it’s because she misses Ash so much and apparently can’t stand to be without him anymore.

Martha receives and activates the AI Ash and at first, everything is fine. However, it’s all too much for Martha while also not being enough for her too. The AI Ash is real, but he is not real enough. He doesn’t eat or sleep or breath or get hurt. He just exists as a fake Ash and Martha realizes that. This leads her to try to kill Ash but when that doesn’t work out, she just locks him in the attic forever.

So, if one is to consider letting AI be a daily part of their lives then just take into consideration that the AI might not be as advance as you want. They may replace your lost loved ones in some ways, but it won’t be them. There will be some days that you look over at this AI and remember that it is not actually a person or the person you want it to be. It will never be the same as when the person was alive. It’s just a thought.