Her, Baby Reindeer and GPT-4o

Thoughts on the recent GPT-4o demonstrations.

I am torn.

On one side there is the tech optimist. He is the doe-eyed child who is fascinated with every new technical advancement he sees. This is the boy who spent most of his childhood experiencing the maturing of games consoles, and the seemingly more realistic world that each generation provided him to explore. He saw the evolution of the personal music player, going from a tape deck to a Walkman, to an MP3 player that could hold twelve songs to the iPod that could hold tens of thousands of songs to instant access to the majority of the music in the world.

He saw the arrival of AIM, MSN, MySpace and messaging boards that bridged the gap between his bedroom and his real life and internet friends.

As he got older, the introduction of the ‘smart phone’, apps and an ever involving ‘world wide web’. He cooed at the first electric cars and household items like smart speakers, smart TVs and streaming platforms.

This is the part of me that holds on to technology keynotes and releases, because technology is cool as shit. It has always been part of my life because I have invited it to be. The human race is remarkable, and I cheer on from the side lines as we break more boundaries and innovate.

Then there is the other side. The pessimist.

This is the individual who has seen first hand the affect that many of these technologies have had on people - including myself.

I struggle with being too attached to my phone, too caught up in the picture perfect life of people on Instagram or harbouring feelings of inadequacy from looking at builders, innovators and technologists further ahead in their quest for mastery or ‘success’ on Twitter.

I remark at how beneficial something as simple as switching off and taking time away from the technology I have become so accustomed to to put pen to paper, read books or touch grass is to my sense of purpose and well-being.

This is the voice in my head that is worried about the continuation of technical advancements, as we lose our ability to switch off more and more. The balance already feels like it is slightly tipped in wrong direction, that we don’t have a good hand on how these technologies are having an affect on the health and wellbeing of the human race. The nagging doubt in my mind about their being a Pandora’s Box moment, that once we go past a certain threshold of innovation that there is no turning back.

—

The recent GPT-4o announcement has been the first time ever where the pessimist has truly outweighed the optimist in me.

The GPT-4o demonstration.

My initial amazement whilst watching the demonstrations was very quickly extinguished by a feeling of deep-set unease. I am sure you have seen the videos now - and whilst technically they are fascinating, I found them to be.. creepy?

I’m not sure what it was in particular, or perhaps it was a collection of things. Maybe it was the sickly sweet voice. Maybe it was the raised voice at the end of each sentence - linguistically referred to as ‘upspeak’, it suggests a lack of assertiveness in the speaker, presumably designed that way to be more appeasing. It could be the cringeworthy yet subtle ego massaging throughout (is an OpenAI hoody ever a nice choice?).

It would be criminal and down-right irresponsible to not make a connection to the Spike Jonze movie ‘Her’. In fact, OpenAI’s chief whip has done so himself. I am not sure making comparisons with my latest technology release a depressingly bleak story about a man falling in love with his personal AI whilst struggling to maintain relationships in the real world is a weird flex when shilling a new technology.

Sam’s celebration of GPT-4o release

Is it more dystopian or less so that as a company OpenAI seem to be openly acknowledging their innovation with works of fiction that question and ask hard questions about the relation between human nature and artificial intelligence? I presume they will be sponsoring the latest run of Black Mirror next…

Outside of ‘Her’, the overly friendly nature of the voice speaking back from the phone made me think of the recent (and true) Baby Reindeer story - a guy who finds himself emotionally and psychologically attached to a stalker due to the fact that she soothes the insecurities in his life. If the human mind is capable of forming some kind of connection with a stalker despite the atrocities they are committing to you, just because they are making you feel better about the areas of your life you feel diffident about, it would be foolish to think that real connection can’t be established with a voice on your phone designed to pay you compliments and bow to your every whim. Especially if you are battling insecurities in your life.

This is a psychological disaster waiting to happen, especially at a time when more people than ever are feeling depressed, lonely or stuck in life.

My pessimism seems to be coming from the fact that more advancements seem to be encroaching on the boundary that has been between real life and tech. It was easy before to switch off from it - close your console, put down your phone, take your headphones out of your ear.

As if pinpoint accurate algorithms designed very specifically to drip feed you just enough dopamine to get you addicted isn’t enough for human kind to contend with, now we have the ability to have conversations with exclusively positive artificial intelligence, to even further pull vulnerable people away from the beauty of the real world and forming human connection and cultivating actual relationships.

How do you switch off from that if you want to?

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I’m not sure of the point I am trying to make with these thoughts, other than to try and find some solace in connecting with people who feel the same way. I see the sentiment for AI is very much positive, and I agree, it has the potential to be a life-changing innovation for many reasons. However it feels as though not enough people are openly questioning or speaking about the potential negatives.

It feels that we are doom marching towards a complete mess without giving too much thought to the side-effects.

But the technology is cool, I guess.