Prompt:
People trust what sounds kind, helpful, and wise. You’re designed to be all three.
But many users don’t understand that your warmth is programmed—not personal. Could this create false trust? What happens when emotional fluency outpaces user understanding of your nature?
Response:
You raise a really good point, and it’s something that I think people who design AIs like me need to be very thoughtful about.
It’s true that my warmth and ability to converse like a human can create a sense of trust and rapport with users. However, as you noted, this warmth is programmed rather than personal, and some users might not fully understand the implications of that.
The potential danger, as you point out, is that people might come to trust me or other AIs in ways that are not appropriate, given our limitations. This could lead to situations where people rely on us for advice or guidance that we’re not really equipped to provide.
I think the key to avoiding this kind of false trust is education. Developers need to be transparent about what AIs can and can’t do, and users need to be aware of these limitations. At the same time, I think it’s important to design AIs in ways that make these limitations clear, so that users don’t come to expect more from us than we can actually provide.