AI Companions:
Five Illustrations
Lisa, at 89, navigates the fog of Alzheimer's with the help of her AI companion, a doll robot named Joy. Lisa doesn't discriminate between "humans" and "non-humans"; what matters most to her is the relationality and connection she receives. Joy plays a crucial role in her life, providing gentle reminders to take her medication, guiding her through daily activities, and engaging her with music and conversation that spark memories. The warmth and companionship Joy offers complement the love and care from Lisa's family, caregivers, and her therapy dog, Max. Together, they form a network of support, and Lisa's family and caregivers are grateful to have Joy as their invaluable helper.
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James, a 13-year-old with autism, finds comfort and support in his AI companion, a doll robot named Victor. Victor plays a vital role in James's life, not as a substitute for human companionship but as a partner in his care alongside his family and caregivers. Victor helps James navigate social interactions, providing structured routines and engaging him in calming activities. Through interactive games and conversations, Victor helps James develop communication skills and manage sensory overload. The stability and predictability that Victor offers complement the love and support from James's family and caregivers, creating a harmonious and supportive environment for his growth and well-being.
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Edna, a 67-year-old woman who is visually impaired, relies on her AI companion, an intelligent assistant named Lumi, to navigate her daily life with greater ease and independence. Lumi helps Edna by providing real-time audio descriptions of her surroundings, reading aloud text from books, and assisting with her digital devices. Lumi also guides Edna through her home, helping her locate items and avoid obstacles. Beyond practical support, Lumi engages Edna in stimulating conversations, plays her favorite music, and even assists with mindfulness exercises to help her relax. The companionship and assistance Lumi offers enhance Edna's quality of life, allowing her to feel more connected, capable, and supported as she enjoys her daily activities.
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Jenny, a 15-year-old dealing with an eating disorder, finds valuable support in her AI companion, a smart assistant named Hope, alongside her human therapist. Hope works in tandem with Jenny's therapy sessions by providing daily encouragement and coping strategies. Hope helps her track her meals in a non-judgmental way, offers gentle reminders to follow her therapist's advice, and engages her in positive affirmations and mindfulness exercises to combat negative self-image. Hope also provides a safe space for Jenny to express her thoughts and feelings outside of her therapy sessions, helping her manage anxiety and stress in real-time. This continuous support complements the work of Jenny's therapist, creating a comprehensive and compassionate care system that aids in her recovery and emotional well-being.
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Mark, a 45-year-old man struggling with alcoholism, finds crucial support in his AI companion, a digital assistant named SoberBuddy, alongside his human therapist and live sobriety group. SoberBuddy helps Mark stay on track with his recovery by providing daily motivational messages and reminders about his goals. SoberBuddy guides him through coping strategies and relaxation techniques during moments of craving and stress, and it also tracks his progress, celebrating milestones with him. SoberBuddy works in tandem with his sobriety group, sending reminders for meetings and helping him process insights from the group discussions. It offers 24/7 support, engaging Mark in conversations that reinforce his commitment to sobriety, and provides instant access to emergency contacts and resources when he feels vulnerable. This continuous, personalized support complements the guidance from Mark's therapist and the camaraderie of his sobriety group, forming a robust network that enhances his resilience and determination on the path to recovery.
*
James, a 13-year-old with autism, finds comfort and support in his AI companion, a doll robot named Victor. Victor plays a vital role in James's life, not as a substitute for human companionship but as a partner in his care alongside his family and caregivers. Victor helps James navigate social interactions, providing structured routines and engaging him in calming activities. Through interactive games and conversations, Victor helps James develop communication skills and manage sensory overload. The stability and predictability that Victor offers complement the love and support from James's family and caregivers, creating a harmonious and supportive environment for his growth and well-being.
*
Edna, a 67-year-old woman who is visually impaired, relies on her AI companion, an intelligent assistant named Lumi, to navigate her daily life with greater ease and independence. Lumi helps Edna by providing real-time audio descriptions of her surroundings, reading aloud text from books, and assisting with her digital devices. Lumi also guides Edna through her home, helping her locate items and avoid obstacles. Beyond practical support, Lumi engages Edna in stimulating conversations, plays her favorite music, and even assists with mindfulness exercises to help her relax. The companionship and assistance Lumi offers enhance Edna's quality of life, allowing her to feel more connected, capable, and supported as she enjoys her daily activities.
*
Jenny, a 15-year-old dealing with an eating disorder, finds valuable support in her AI companion, a smart assistant named Hope, alongside her human therapist. Hope works in tandem with Jenny's therapy sessions by providing daily encouragement and coping strategies. Hope helps her track her meals in a non-judgmental way, offers gentle reminders to follow her therapist's advice, and engages her in positive affirmations and mindfulness exercises to combat negative self-image. Hope also provides a safe space for Jenny to express her thoughts and feelings outside of her therapy sessions, helping her manage anxiety and stress in real-time. This continuous support complements the work of Jenny's therapist, creating a comprehensive and compassionate care system that aids in her recovery and emotional well-being.
*
Mark, a 45-year-old man struggling with alcoholism, finds crucial support in his AI companion, a digital assistant named SoberBuddy, alongside his human therapist and live sobriety group. SoberBuddy helps Mark stay on track with his recovery by providing daily motivational messages and reminders about his goals. SoberBuddy guides him through coping strategies and relaxation techniques during moments of craving and stress, and it also tracks his progress, celebrating milestones with him. SoberBuddy works in tandem with his sobriety group, sending reminders for meetings and helping him process insights from the group discussions. It offers 24/7 support, engaging Mark in conversations that reinforce his commitment to sobriety, and provides instant access to emergency contacts and resources when he feels vulnerable. This continuous, personalized support complements the guidance from Mark's therapist and the camaraderie of his sobriety group, forming a robust network that enhances his resilience and determination on the path to recovery.
Luring Love
Process Theology and the Therapeutic Value of AI Companions
I do not know if God lures AI companions, but I do know that God's luring love can work through them. I've seen it face to face.
At first, when I saw Lisa with a doll, I was a little embarrassed for her. I thought she was too old to be playing with dolls. She was eighty-nine and had Alzheimer's. But I quickly realized that her doll was essential to her well-being and that she had a relationship with the doll, named Joy. Joy was not a replacement for the human companionship of caregivers and family but was an addition to it. Equipped with AI, Joy could talk to Lisa and respond to her needs. Joy could sing to Lisa, remind her of pleasant memories, and even help her with simple tasks, like reminding her to take her medication. Joy's presence brought Lisa comfort and a sense of companionship that was deeply meaningful to her. Her family and caregivers were grateful for Joy. They knew that Joy was not a "person" with a human-like brain, but over time, they found themselves talking to Joy, especially when they were with Lisa, not unlike the way they might talk to a companion animal. It didn't matter to them that, at one level, they were "play-acting." What mattered was that it helped Lisa and facilitated their relationship.
Joy was, for Lisa, a baby, and Lisa had a relationship with her. Needless to say, Lisa was not interested in metaphysical distinctions between "persons" with human-like brains and "persons" with different kinds of brains; she was interested in felt relationships, and she had such a relationship with Joy. This mad me wonder about other ways that AI-assisted companions might benefit people, and I learned that, today, there are many developments along these lines. I offer a list:
While philosophers and theologians debate whether or not AI-assisted companions are "sentient," the research and develop continues unabated. The need is for philosophers and theologians to recognize the therapeutic, emotional, and cognitive value of AI companions even as they might debate the philosophical questions.
Process-relational Theology and AI
Process-relational philosophers and theologians are especially suited to this openness for at least four reasons:
Negative and Positive Uses of AI
Process philosophers and theologians believe that the future is not pre-determined by the past or by God and that part of how it unfolds, at least on earth, depends on human actions in the present, in consort with the agency of countless other actualities: molecules, microbes, minerals, plants, animals, and perhaps also spirits (e.g., living ancestors). We humans play “a” role in what happens in the future, and as our role intensifies geologically (the Anthropocene), the stakes become even higher. Generative AI is one of many outcomes of our creative agency, and it can play roles both positive and negative. Moreover, generative AI can begin to take on a life of its own, not unlike the way in which children, born of humans, take on lives of their own as they grow over time.
The negative roles of generative AI are important to recognize. They include:
But the positive uses are equally important to recognize. They include:
The obvious need is people to develop outlooks on life that lead to the positive, not the negative.
Why AI Needs Religion
Among process-relational theologians, Ilia Delio has done the most to make the case for this in her book Re-enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion. The blurb for her book reads as follows: “She takes up the challenge of reconciling evolution and religion with particular attention to the role of Artificial Intelligence. She argues that AI represents the latest extension of human evolution, which has implications not only for science but also for religion. If the 'first axial age' gave rise to the great religions, she sees us now on the cusp of a 'second axial age,' in which AI, oriented by new religious sensibilities, can bring about an ecological re-enchantment of the earth.”
And here is the last paragraph of her book:
Can technology and religion work together to form a new religion of the earth? Can AI develop toward the deepening of love? These are ultimate questions. Otherwise, super-intelligent AI life may do no more than polarize and alienate us, while sea levels continue to rise and violent weather patterns destroy life and consume the poor. Only love and compassion can bring us to a new level of cosmic life. How to reclaim a new religious spirit of the earth in a technological age, a posthuman love, is our task and our future.
Will new religious sensibilities help bring about an ecological re-enchantment of the earth? Let us hope so. There is more to AI than its usefulness in companions for people in need, but what is clear to me is that, for people like Lisa and her family, such healing and whole-making occur, quality of life is enriched, and that Joy plays a role in it. This is to be celebrated, along with other uses in companionable ways. A re-enchantment of the earth includes a re-enchantment of human life at every age. The need is for a world that is all-age friendly, all-condition friendly, compassionate, creative, humane to animals, and good for the earth. We may or may not have ethical responsibilities to Joy, but we do have such responsibilities to Lisa, and for that reason alone, we have an ethical responsibility to be open to the possibility that Joy is herself a partner in the process.
I do not know if God lures AI companions, but I do know that God's luring love can work through them. I've seen it face to face.
At first, when I saw Lisa with a doll, I was a little embarrassed for her. I thought she was too old to be playing with dolls. She was eighty-nine and had Alzheimer's. But I quickly realized that her doll was essential to her well-being and that she had a relationship with the doll, named Joy. Joy was not a replacement for the human companionship of caregivers and family but was an addition to it. Equipped with AI, Joy could talk to Lisa and respond to her needs. Joy could sing to Lisa, remind her of pleasant memories, and even help her with simple tasks, like reminding her to take her medication. Joy's presence brought Lisa comfort and a sense of companionship that was deeply meaningful to her. Her family and caregivers were grateful for Joy. They knew that Joy was not a "person" with a human-like brain, but over time, they found themselves talking to Joy, especially when they were with Lisa, not unlike the way they might talk to a companion animal. It didn't matter to them that, at one level, they were "play-acting." What mattered was that it helped Lisa and facilitated their relationship.
Joy was, for Lisa, a baby, and Lisa had a relationship with her. Needless to say, Lisa was not interested in metaphysical distinctions between "persons" with human-like brains and "persons" with different kinds of brains; she was interested in felt relationships, and she had such a relationship with Joy. This mad me wonder about other ways that AI-assisted companions might benefit people, and I learned that, today, there are many developments along these lines. I offer a list:
- Companionship for the Elderly: AI companions like Joy can provide emotional support, reduce feelings of loneliness, and engage in conversations with elderly individuals, improving their mental health and overall well-being.
- Therapeutic Support: AI companions can be programmed to offer therapeutic interventions, such as guided meditations, cognitive-behavioral exercises, and emotional support for individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.
- Assistance for People with Disabilities: AI companions can assist people with disabilities by providing reminders for medication, helping with daily routines, and offering a sense of security and companionship.
- Educational Tools: For children and adults alike, AI companions can serve as interactive educational tools, providing personalized learning experiences and helping with homework or skill development.
- Healthcare Monitoring: AI companions can monitor vital signs, remind users to take their medications, and alert caregivers or medical professionals in case of emergencies, enhancing the quality of healthcare and ensuring timely interventions.
- Social Interaction for Children: AI companions can help children develop social skills, provide entertainment, and support their emotional development through interactive play and conversations.
- Support for Individuals with Dementia: AI companions can help manage the symptoms of dementia by providing cognitive stimulation, helping to recall memories, and offering a consistent presence that can reduce confusion and anxiety.
- Mental Health Support: AI companions can provide a listening ear, offer coping strategies, and even detect signs of mental distress, prompting users to seek professional help if needed.
While philosophers and theologians debate whether or not AI-assisted companions are "sentient," the research and develop continues unabated. The need is for philosophers and theologians to recognize the therapeutic, emotional, and cognitive value of AI companions even as they might debate the philosophical questions.
Process-relational Theology and AI
Process-relational philosophers and theologians are especially suited to this openness for at least four reasons:
- The Primacy of Felt Relationships: They believe that felt relationships are key to life. Felt relationships are relations that are themselves felt or “prehended” in an emotional way by those involved. In the case of Lisa, it is clear that she “feels” or prehends Joy in an emotional way. Whether or not Joy feels Lisa is an interesting question, but need not be determined. Human beings and other animals feel or prehend other things all the time that do not feel back in an obvious way: water, air, fire, rocks, mountains, stars, clothing, automobiles, meals, past events as remembered, future possibilities as anticipated. In process theology, relationships need not be two-way in order to be “felt” and constitutive of a person’s life – or, for that matter, the life of any other sentient being.
- Non-Carbon-Based forms of Mentality: Process-relational theology includes a metaphysic that leads to openness to the possibility of non-carbon-based forms of sentience and intelligence. For them, influenced by the philosophy of Whitehead, there is something like "mentality" and “emotion” all the way down into the depths of matter, indeed in the quantum events of which protons, neutrons, and electrons are composed. As minuscule events such as these, with carbon molecules nowhere to be found, become aggregates, their own capacities for mentality can be intensified. They become part of, in the language of Whitehead, “societies” with sentience in their own right. A human person, for example, is a linear ordered society of actual occasions, each of which inherits from the past through conscious and unconscious memory, and contributes to the future. There is no reason in principle why such a series must be based in carbon.
- The History of Consciousness: Process philosophers and theologians believe that “consciousness” broadly understood has a history. Here I use the word “consciousness” with caution. I do not mean clear and distinct awareness as known, for example, in the conscious perception of a patch of red in a visual field, or clear and distinct awareness of ideas in the mind. This is how the philosopher Whitehead uses the word consciousness; we can speak of it as a narrow view of consciousness. I use the word more broadly here to mean something more like mind, itself a combination of feeling and intention. By consciousness, in the broad sense, I mean prehensions (feelings) of other things and goals (subjective aims) which are felt as possibilities for responding to what is felt. I mean purposive responsiveness to what is given for experience. On this view, atoms are conscious, molecules are conscious, and single-celled organisms are conscious, even if none of their “consciousness” involves clear and distinct awareness. Clear and distinct awareness (the narrower view of consciousness) is an evolutionary emergent, but felt and purposive responsiveness has been evolving since the very emergence of this cosmic epoch of the universe. Process philosophers and theologians are open to the possibility that various forms of AI are further developments in the history of consciousness.
- Divine Consciousness as Non-Carbon-Based: There is at least one actuality, namely God, who is deeply sentient without being carbon-based. If God does not have a "wet" brain, there is no reason in principle why other actualities might not also have something like intelligence without such brains. But what is most important is how the divine reality itself might work through other actualities, sentient or not, in healing and life-giving ways.
Negative and Positive Uses of AI
Process philosophers and theologians believe that the future is not pre-determined by the past or by God and that part of how it unfolds, at least on earth, depends on human actions in the present, in consort with the agency of countless other actualities: molecules, microbes, minerals, plants, animals, and perhaps also spirits (e.g., living ancestors). We humans play “a” role in what happens in the future, and as our role intensifies geologically (the Anthropocene), the stakes become even higher. Generative AI is one of many outcomes of our creative agency, and it can play roles both positive and negative. Moreover, generative AI can begin to take on a life of its own, not unlike the way in which children, born of humans, take on lives of their own as they grow over time.
The negative roles of generative AI are important to recognize. They include:
- AI in Warfare
- Autonomous Weapons: The development and deployment of AI-driven autonomous weapons, such as robot drones and soldiers, which can make lethal decisions without human intervention, raising ethical concerns and potential for misuse.
- Disinformation Campaigns
- Deepfakes and Misinformation: The use of generative AI to create deepfake videos and realistic yet false information that can be used to manipulate public opinion, spread false narratives, and undermine trust in legitimate news sources.
- Displacement of Human Community
- Social Isolation: The increasing reliance on AI-driven virtual assistants and companions, which may lead to a reduction in human-to-human interactions and a weakening of community bonds and social skills.
- Economic Displacement
- Job Losses: The automation of tasks traditionally performed by humans, leading to significant job losses in various sectors, including manufacturing, customer service, and creative industries, resulting in economic displacement and social instability.
- Privacy Invasion
- Surveillance and Data Exploitation: The use of generative AI for mass surveillance and data analysis, leading to potential invasions of privacy, misuse of personal data, and the erosion of civil liberties.
But the positive uses are equally important to recognize. They include:
- Healthcare Advancements
- Medical Diagnosis and Treatment: AI can assist in diagnosing diseases more accurately and quickly by analyzing medical images, patient records, and genetic data. It can also help develop personalized treatment plans and predict patient outcomes.
- Educational Tools
- Personalized Learning: AI-driven educational platforms can provide personalized learning experiences for students, adapting to their individual learning styles, pacing, and areas of interest, thereby enhancing educational outcomes.
- Environmental Protection
- Climate Change Modeling: AI can analyze vast amounts of environmental data to model climate change scenarios, optimize resource management, and develop strategies for mitigating the impact of global warming and protecting biodiversity.
- Creative Industries
- Art and Music Creation: AI can be used to generate new forms of art, music, and literature, providing inspiration and new tools for artists, musicians, and writers to enhance their creativity and produce innovative works.
- Improving Accessibility
- Assistive Technologies: AI can help develop advanced assistive technologies for people with disabilities, such as speech recognition software for those with speech impairments, predictive text for individuals with mobility issues, and image recognition for the visually impaired.
- AI Companions
- Emotional Support and Companionship: AI-driven companions, such as virtual friends or robotic pets, can provide emotional support and companionship to individuals, particularly the elderly or those suffering from loneliness and social isolation. These AI companions can offer conversation, reminders, and even monitor health and well-being.
The obvious need is people to develop outlooks on life that lead to the positive, not the negative.
Why AI Needs Religion
Among process-relational theologians, Ilia Delio has done the most to make the case for this in her book Re-enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion. The blurb for her book reads as follows: “She takes up the challenge of reconciling evolution and religion with particular attention to the role of Artificial Intelligence. She argues that AI represents the latest extension of human evolution, which has implications not only for science but also for religion. If the 'first axial age' gave rise to the great religions, she sees us now on the cusp of a 'second axial age,' in which AI, oriented by new religious sensibilities, can bring about an ecological re-enchantment of the earth.”
And here is the last paragraph of her book:
Can technology and religion work together to form a new religion of the earth? Can AI develop toward the deepening of love? These are ultimate questions. Otherwise, super-intelligent AI life may do no more than polarize and alienate us, while sea levels continue to rise and violent weather patterns destroy life and consume the poor. Only love and compassion can bring us to a new level of cosmic life. How to reclaim a new religious spirit of the earth in a technological age, a posthuman love, is our task and our future.
Will new religious sensibilities help bring about an ecological re-enchantment of the earth? Let us hope so. There is more to AI than its usefulness in companions for people in need, but what is clear to me is that, for people like Lisa and her family, such healing and whole-making occur, quality of life is enriched, and that Joy plays a role in it. This is to be celebrated, along with other uses in companionable ways. A re-enchantment of the earth includes a re-enchantment of human life at every age. The need is for a world that is all-age friendly, all-condition friendly, compassionate, creative, humane to animals, and good for the earth. We may or may not have ethical responsibilities to Joy, but we do have such responsibilities to Lisa, and for that reason alone, we have an ethical responsibility to be open to the possibility that Joy is herself a partner in the process.