Beware of Supernormal Stimuli

What happens when machines become funnier, kinder, and more empathetic than humans? Do robot therapists save lives? And should Angela credit her virtual assistant as a co-author of her book?

• SOURCES:
  • Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology at Arizona State University.
  • Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn; co-founder and board member of Inflection AI.
  • Kazuo Ishiguro, novelist and screenwriter.
  • Ethan Mollick, professor of management and co-director of the Generative A.I. Lab at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Ann Patchett, author.
  • Kevin Roose, technology columnist for The New York Times and co-host of the podcast Hard Fork.
  • Niko Tinbergen, 20th-century Dutch biologist and ornithologist.
  • Lyle Ungar, professor of computer and information science at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • E. B. White, 20th-century American author.

• RESOURCES:
  • Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, by Ethan Mollick (2024).
  • "Meet My A.I. Friends," by Kevin Roose (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Loneliness and Suicide Mitigation for Students Using GPT3-Enabled Chatbots," by Bethanie Maples, Merve Cerit, Aditya Vishwanath, and Roy Pea (NPJ Mental Health Research, 2024).
  • "AI Can Help People Feel Heard, but an AI Label Diminishes This Impact," by Yidan Yin, Nan Jia, and Cheryl J. Wakslak (PNAS, 2024).
  • "Romantic AI Chatbots Don’t Have Your Privacy at Heart," by Jen Caltrider, Misha Rykov and Zoë MacDonald (Mozilla Foundation, 2024).
  • Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021).
  • The Study Of Instinct, by Niko Tinbergen (1951).
  • Pi.

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are Our Tools Becoming Part of Us?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).
  • "Is GPS Changing Your Brain?" by No Stupid Questions (2023).
  • "How to Think About A.I.," series by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).