I have been fascinated by the inclusion of AI in everyday life. Just before typing this, I was paying bills. It was interesting that I couldn’t pay my Spectrum bill online from my laptop with either a debit card or my banking info, however, the Mobil app worked just fine. I have four pages of Mobil apps. Does makes it interesting to navigate your phone!
ChatGPT does make conversation easier but what is the price to our human nature? I write articles, poetry, and books besides working as a flooring designer and customer/ business development service in a software company. Appreciate the clean edits, though does my writing if I use it lose part of my soul? It’s handy to have a filter available all the time but does it increase the superficial quality of human interactions?
My background includes a school that is excellent in science and engineering and from a family full of PhDs, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. I love the wonders of technology. I go almost weekly to a technology coffee group. There are fascinating people to meet, projects to hear about, find awesome resources, and keep up with new developments! Our world is constantly changing and it’s an exciting time to learn.
Today at the Coronado Optimists, the Superintendent of Schools was our guest speaker. This was exactly what he was talking about, the nature of education has changed. Information is so readily available, that the direction of education should shift to teach students to apply what they know.
Almost everything we do in the modern world has a website, a mobile app, or a chatbot! Personal communication is reduced to messenger and texting. It has become increasingly difficult to find a person to talk to, I believe that has much to do with the increase in suicides.
Social isolation is not necessarily bad; most people crave solitude at least occasionally. Being alone can be relaxing, meditative, and rejuvenating. Social isolation typically refers to solitude that is unwanted and unhealthy. Socially isolated people may lack friends or close coworkers, and they often feel lonely or depressed. They can suffer from low self-esteem or anxiety. The following symptoms associated with social isolation are warning signs of unhealthy social isolation:
- Avoiding social interactions, including those that were once enjoyable.
- Canceling plans frequently and feeling relief when plans are canceled.
- Experiencing anxiety or panic when thinking about social interactions
- Feeling distress during periods of solitude
- Feeling dread associated with social activities.
- Spending large amounts of time alone or with extremely limited contact with others
Social isolation can involve emotional isolation, which is an unwillingness or inability to share one’s feelings with others. When socially isolated individuals lack emotional interaction and support, they can become emotionally numb — detached from their own feelings.
https://publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/effects-of-social-isolation-on-mental-health/
An observational study showed that spending more than a few hours per week using electronic media correlated negatively with self-reported happiness, life satisfaction, and self-esteem, whereas time spent on off-screen activities (in-person social interactions, sports, or exercise, print media, homework, religious services, working at a paid job) correlated positively with psychological well-being, among adolescents.33 Other observational studies have linked spending more than 2 hours a day on social networking sites and personal electronic devices with high rates of suicidality and depressive symptoms among adolescent girls, although youth who sustained high levels of face-to-face socializing were relatively protected against the negative consequences of too much time online.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7012622/
My other role is as a sales and design person. I love this as I enjoy getting to know people and talking with them and that is the main reason for my success: communication. I think back to when for 12 years I was away from my family, living in another country. I spoke with my parents every week, and my sister every other week. Currently, I speak with my sister in another state daily as well as message a handful of people every day, many of us have challenges, and having a little support makes a big difference! I always imagine when on the phone that the person is in the same room as me. That’s part of the reason I have kept my pen name “ Salonista”, and also my radio handle, reminiscent of the salons of the 1920s where all the artists and intellectuals gathered.
Society is feeling pressure to be the standard version of yourself, just like everyone else, which seems to hinder creativity and innovation. Everything is turning into the box store/amazon of everything. The one thing that technology can’t replace is the care and understanding of being a human! Seeing a friendly face filled with love and compassion. The accountability idea came from the fact that many are trying to hide behind impersonal AI and chatbots to avoid responsibility. This way they won’t have to deal with disappointments and fear.
I work some hours in an online business, they totally love AI for the reason they don’t have to interact with customers! They can avoid human interactions and emotions. Emotions make us human! I was born responsible and love the joy of solving something and sharing in human happiness: seeing a smile, getting a handshake, and saying thank you and you are welcome!
