AI & its impact on Psychology

Artificial intelligence is no longer a fictional concept in today's era. It has become

an integral part of our lives, revolutionising industries and transforming the way
we interact with technology. Artificial intelligence involves creating algorithms
and models that can learn from datasets and logic with minimum human
interference.

Over a period of time, AI has faced significant advancements via powerful

datasets, computing capabilities, big data and advanced algorithm designs. These
advancements have helped AI to bloom in various sectors including education,
healthcare, transportation, finance, manufacturing, military and entertainment as
well.

Few instances will highlight my point in this regard. Five-six years ago, if I wanted
to purchase a shirt for myself, I had to travel to multiple shops, malls to fetch the
right size, perfect colour - type shirt. Cut to 2023, enroute my office, I felt the
need to purchase a formal shirt for an upcoming seminar, so I opened my
e-commerce app. Now, as I am a frequent purchaser, this app has pre-saved my
preferences along with my basic details. App has heard that I am going for a
seminar and has predicted that I might need formal shirts. From my DP, the app
has understood how dashing I look, and has now filtered which would look better.
Hence, as soon as I open this app, it shows a few already filtered formal shirts for
me. I don't have to worry about the size, fit, pattern, etc., as the app has already
taken care of the same. On top of it, before I reach home in the evening, the app
has delivered the shirt at my home.

Many such incidents have become so common for all of us that we do not even
consider them unusual anymore. For millennials specifically, this is how it should
be! Right?

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From email auto responses to high-end predictive complex project management
algorithms, AI has now conquered the world. Few very recent news across the
world from this field:
● A couple was constantly fighting with each other in front of virtual voice
assistant Alexa, and within a couple of days Alexa sent them details of
near-by divorce lawyers separately. Now we need to “Think before we
speak: Alexa is listening”. Our old proverb had got it perfectly right -
“Hedges have eyes and Walls have ears” isn’t it?
● While searching something online, let’s say you added something in the
cart, but didn’t complete the purchase. To your surprise now on your social
media within a few seconds you start to see remarketing ads of the same
product.
● Your preferred online music streaming platform over the period grabs
your personality traits along with music preferences. It also senses your
mood and decides the most-preferred song track for you at any given
point of time.
● Having to run to the bank for every transaction for minor tasks can be a
waste of time and AI is playing a vital part in why you haven't visited the
branch for the past couple of years. Intelligent algorithms have made it
possible to transfer money, deposits and even open accounts from
anywhere, leveraging AI with security and privacy controls.

Another interesting breakthrough is the launch of “Surprise Me” or “Play

Something” feature on the popular online video streaming OTT platforms. So now
we do not even want to decide what to do in leisure, right? We have certainly
“outsourced” our decision making in today’s term to such AI-based apps.

Talking about the humongous amount of data generation every day resulting in
personalised recommendations through AI/ML based algorithms.
● There are more mobile phones than toothbrushes
● Around 63% of the entire world’s population is using the internet on
mobile.
● On average one spends 7 hrs 20 mins on mobile per day. We might not
even sleep that much.
● 42% of internet users make E-commerce purchases weekly.

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Hence, Big Data coupled with Data analytics tools are now accurately identifying
individuals better. Through such reliable datasets and fuzzy logic at one’s mercy
personalised recommendations are bound to come.

Artificial intelligence is indeed a game changer, impacting multiple domains and

reshaping the world in a modern way. With technology advancing at light speed,
AI is conquering enormous applications and has certainly started to make a dent
in our thinking processes. Few such examples are:

● We can now get pets through AI. Although real pets are lovable; but they
need to be taken care of such as cleaning, feeding, taking them for walk
etc., but AI pets will be robots that can feel, look and act like real pets;
eliminating the issues faced by owners.
● USA based AI expert Dr. David Levy predicted that, within a few years, we
won't just be having sex with robots, but through Xenobots reproduction
would also start.”
● A 36 year old lady named Rosanna Ramos has tied a knot in March 2023
with her virtual beau Eren. She feels that now she is in a romantic
relationship with her chatbot and found her perfect partner as he listens to
her all the time without being judgemental.
● Voice Assistant-MND mother helps daughter with voice forever to develop
the first personalised AI assistant for MND patients so that her voice can
live forever.

Natural language capabilities allow for more conversational and personalised

interactions. This can create an impact on human psychology by creating a sense
of companionship, convenience and even emotional attachments with AI tools
and chatbots. While doing the voice search we literally blabber anything and
everything we want and that too in any spoken language. Then we expect the
poor search engine, like a spouse, to decode your speech, interpret the keywords
and understand the context of your content and give you an instant output result.
To your surprise, the search engines are successful in doing so. You must have
heard or read the stories about Ai enabled face scanners being able to precisely
determine your probable political affinity. Or the image scanners on e-commerce
platforms predict your empathy towards certain colours based on your persona.
So now technology is also trying to figure out your intentions and intuitions as
well.

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Going about everyday routines, AI drives much of what we do. On one Friday
evening, you get into your smart car. From your smartphone, you dial your friend
and invite him/her to your place for a party. Immediately after your phone, the
smart entertainment system starts playing a few of your favourite songs, setting
up your mood for the party. Smart Glass-enabled GPS is deciding the shortest
path with lesser congestion. As you get nearer to your bungalow, smart street
lights are turned on to welcome you, the smart gate opens after scanning your
car, smart parking app shows the path and assists you in the parking. Smart Lock
has opened the door for reading near field communication-based and
Bluetooth-enabled sensors. Smart lighting has started creating the perfect light
setting for you. Understanding the upcoming party at the house, a smart vacuum
cleaner is cleaning the floor. Smart refrigerator has started making the ice, and a
smart AC has started cooling the place as your friend likes it. Smart TV has found
a few photos of you and your friend from your social media and the slideshow
has started. By the way, Alexa has already ordered the pizza with your favourite
toppings. You enter the washroom to get fresh to realise that the smart geyser
has already heated the water to your daily temperature assuming you may take
a bath. After you get fresh and change your clothes, and enter the kitchen, the
smart coffee maker has already blended the coffee of your choice. I can go on.

Almost close to 80% of what we do every day can be intelligently automated to

some degree in the next couple of years.

Psychology states that almost 7/8th portion of your mind share is subconscious
while only the 1/8th is conscious. As AI powered recommendation systems often
utilise subconscious patterns to personalise suggestions, which makes a huge
impact as opposed to any other which were luring conscious mindshare. AI
enables marketers to gather and analyse vast amounts of data from various
sources, including social media, websites, and purchase history. AI can identify
patterns, preferences and behaviour of marketers and allows targeted marketing
campaigns. AI streamlines marketing workflows by automating repetitive tasks
such as email marketing, social media scheduling, and ad placement. Such
sub-conscious branding is proving to be more impactful as it doesn’t feel like
traditional advertising.

Although AI presents unheard of prospects of innovation, everything has a flip

side. There are several issues arising out of this technology including lack of
decision making abilities, job loss, dependence on virtual media and the

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possibility of mental health problems. Through darknet, deep fake AI is certainly
being used for ill causes. As it understands you better, possibly more than your
spouse, the dangers are more harmful.

At this point of time we should not forget the birth story of internet. In 1990
decade, the similar fear was created about the computerisation and their were so
many news about the evils of internet. Everyone was saying this will impact jobs
and make humans slave of this technology. Now three decades later, we are
truely enjoying the benefits of the internet world and are reaping the fruits of one
of the best scientific discoveries - internet. It has certainly made a world a global
colony.

Dear frieds, AI today is on the same stage of evolution. Much has been said about
the potential harms it might have and how people would become lazy in their
thought process, etc., Sometimes, AI raises ethical questions related to privacy,
data security, algorithmic bias, transparency, and accountability. I strongly
resonate with another old proverb which says, “beauty is in the eyes of the
beholder” In same breath depending on your prejudices, exposure and most
importantly your ethical conscious - you are going to see the applications of this
wonderful technology. We often see short-term tech adoption and its long-term
consequences as separate things when they are actually two sides of the same
coin. Along with investing to design the technology but also boosting in “
technological intelligence”- ability to understand and make wise decisions about
technology.

We are in the early phases of a gigantic shift from rule-based, deterministic

systems to probabilistic, learning systems. Although we are working towards
augmented intelligence, which will be a very effective tool, we are not quite there
with real artificial intelligence yet.

Rather than replacing humans, AI will work in tandem with human intelligence,
augmenting human capabilities and decision-making. The technology is for our
convenience, but it is up to us how much we choose to use it. Industry 5.0
revolution is all about this Cobot technology. Collaborative AI systems enable
humans and AI to work hand in hand in a symbiotic manner, combining their
strengths to work on complex problems which will foster new opportunities and
innovations across industries.

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Being aware of the latest developments and staying informed about AI's progress
can help individuals stay up-to-date and anticipate future impacts. Awareness
about these issues is essential for ensuring responsible AI development and
deployment and avoiding unintended consequences.

There are more than 10,000 AI tools worldwide, each with unique advantages and
potential uses. The AI community is very active, and as research develops and
developers come up with fresh approaches to various AI problems, new tools are
always being developed.

In view of the current AI stage, I wish to conclude with a great line by an Indian
nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Here is his warning that a ‘a mind all logic is
like a knife all blade. It cuts the hand that wields it”.