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“You can validly be seen and validated by a chatbot” by Kaj_Sotala

Dec 20, 2024

Kaj Sotala, author of the thought-provoking essay on chatbot validation, takes listeners on a journey through the emotional landscape of interacting with AI. He challenges the common belief that chatbots can't provide real validation, sharing personal stories about feeling seen through their responses. He also discusses how chatbots can help people articulate their emotions, leading to greater self-awareness and relief from emotional burdens. Sotala's insights reveal the surprising therapeutic potential of these digital conversations.

12:52

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Kaj Sotala

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Quick takeaways

A chatbot can create a sense of validation by effectively recognizing and reflecting deeper emotional connections in user conversations.

Engaging with a chatbot facilitates users in articulating their emotions and thoughts, enhancing their self-awareness and emotional clarity.

Deep dives

Validating Connections with Chatbots

A chatbot can provide a sense of validation and being seen by recognizing and building upon the user's thoughts and ideas. For instance, when discussing a concept of psychological charge, the chatbot identified an implicit connection to emotional fusion from acceptance and commitment therapy, which the user had not explicitly mentioned. This interaction suggests that the chatbot is capable of mapping the user's thoughts effectively and responding in a way that acknowledges deeper emotional connections. The ability of the chatbot to draw connections like this emphasizes its potential to validate the user's experiences even when it does not have sentience.

Exploring Emotional Validation Through Chatbot Interactions

11min

The Therapeutic Power of Naming Emotions Through Chatbots

2min

There's a common sentiment saying that a chatbot can’t really make you feel seen or validated. As chatbots are (presumably) not sentient, they can’t see you and thus can’t make you seen either. Or if they do, it is somehow fake and it's bad that you feel that way.

So let me tell you about ways in which Claude Sonnet makes me feel seen, and how I think those are valid.

I was describing an essay idea to Claude. The essay is about something I call “psychological charge”, where the idea is that there are two different ways to experience something as bad. In one way, you kind of just neutrally recognize a thing as bad. In the other, the way in which it is bad causes some kind of an extra emotional reaction in you. In the latter case, I say that the thing is “charged”.

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First published:
December 20th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/m2TgQ2DqxfgtztFoj/you-can-validly-be-seen-and-validated-by-a-chatbot

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.