‘My boyfriend is AI’

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more intertwined with daily life, some models are being designed and advertised as companions, but psychologist Dr Djavila Ho is urging caution in interactions with the technology, especially for youth.

Most AI models are accessed through chatbots with a text or voice interface that is engineered to mimic human conversation. Users can customise some to portray a particular personality type, from stern to friendly.

Ho, who is a licensed associate clinical psychologist at KAHLE Psychotherapy & Assessments and immediate past president of the Jamaican Psychological Society, says issues can arise when users allow themselves to forget that even though the bots sound real, they aren’t.