Is it Just Me?

In Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other the author, Sherry Turkle, writes of her observations between humans and robots. Many of the people she observes form a one-sided relationship with the robot which they think is mutual.These relationships form not just with robots but with many forms of technology like computer games and just conversation with an artificial intelligence. I understood why some easily created these relationships with the technology, but personally my experiences with artificial intelligence I have never felt that. I do sometimes enjoy using those types of technology; however, in the back of my mind I have always had a mental distance with those programs and I do not think I created those relationships with anything relating to artificial intelligence. I may be in the minority though because I remember having that distance with other things like stuffed animals, dolls, and other toys many children form relationships with. Reading this book opened my eyes to the complexities of the human-robot relationships that are a lot more common than I previously thought.

-Jillian Tedsen