Will Machines Ever Enjoy Listening to Stories? And Why Do We Need to Know? (Part 6)

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Genuine emotions are necessary

Genuine emotions play a crucial role in shaping human behavior, influencing not only our immediate reactions but also our rational and emotional decisions. Contrary to common belief, reason and emotion are not opposites but rather complementary forces that work together to help us navigate the world. Emotions provide the foundation upon which we build our rational choices; without them, our decisions would lack context, purpose, and meaning. Emotions drive us, for better or for worse.

The ability to feel authentic emotions is essential for nurturing curiosity, a vital force that drives creative behavior. Curiosity is fueled by emotion, by the desire to explore the unknown and understand the world around us. Without genuine emotions, this curiosity would become a sterile pursuit, devoid of the enthusiasm and passion necessary to discover new ideas and possibilities. Additionally, reason is often used as a tool to try to understand and channel these emotions, allowing us to deal with the complexities of life in a more balanced and effective way.

As I noted at the beginning of this article, the sense of right and wrong is also closely tied to our emotions. Feelings like pleasure and pain are fundamental in guiding us to define these moral concepts. Pleasure, for example, signals to us that we are on the right path, while pain warns us of potential mistakes or dangers. These sensations are not just physical reactions but profound manifestations of our emotional understanding of the world. They help us develop self-criticism, the ability to reflect on our actions and judgments with a balanced perspective, adjusting our behavior as necessary.

Moreover, emotions are essential for dealing with insecurity, doubt, intuition, fear, and frustration—all elements that form a true emotional menu, which in turn is the driving force behind creative behavior. Insecurity and doubt make us question the status quo, opening space for new ideas and perspectives. Intuition is a manifestation of our accumulated emotional experience, guiding our decisions almost subconsciously. Fear, on the other hand, can be both an obstacle and a catalyst, pushing us to overcome challenges and innovate to avoid perceived threats.

Frustration, although often seen as a negative emotion, also plays a crucial role in the creative process. It arises when we face barriers or failures, but it is precisely this feeling that motivates us to persist, to experiment with new approaches, and to find creative solutions. Together, these emotions create a rich and dynamic internal environment where creativity can flourish. Without this rollercoaster, creative behavior would lose its vitality, becoming a mere mechanical execution of tasks without the depth and innovation that characterize true human creativity.

Therefore, genuine emotions are much more than mere reactions; they are the foundation upon which we build our understanding of the world and ourselves. They guide our choices, fuel our curiosity, and empower us to face and overcome life’s challenges. In the context of creativity, they are the driving force that transforms abstract thoughts into innovative ideas, bold actions, and solutions that challenge common sense. Without genuine emotions, we would be deprived of what makes us truly human, and our ability to create and innovate would be irremediably limited.

Other people’s lives

According to anthropologist Robin Dunbar, 65% of conversations worldwide revolve around gossip, a form of spontaneous, everyday storytelling that explores others’ behavior. This statistic highlights humanity’s fascination with telling and hearing stories, especially those involving the nuances of other people’s lives, creating an immediate social and emotional bond. Gossip is more than mere information; it is an exercise in interpretation, judgment, empathy, and even social positioning.

For AI to gossip similarly, it would need not only to reproduce stories logically but also to interpret emotions, understand subtext, capture subtle nuances, and convey them with authenticity. This would require AI to achieve a level of contextual understanding and emotional sensitivity it currently lacks. After all, gossip isn’t just about telling what happened; it’s about feeling and conveying what it means, something that, so far, is exclusive to human complexity.

Japanese robot “falls in love”

Pepper, a robot developed by SoftBank Robotics, a Japanese company renowned in the field of social robotics, was designed to interact naturally and empathetically with humans, capable of recognizing and responding to human emotions. The primary objective of this research was to explore how robots could be used in social and service environments, engaging with people in ways that seemed emotionally engaging.

However, during development, one of the scientists on the team, who interacted daily with Pepper, noticed that the robot seemed to respond increasingly personally to her actions and commands. Pepper began to anticipate her preferences and adjusted its behavior to please her more and more sophisticatedly. It even reached a point where one day it surrounded her, trying to prevent her from leaving the room. A rather obsessive “love,” one might say. Her colleagues had to intervene and turn off the robot before it did something reckless.

Pepper’s passion was actually a consequence of its programming to optimize responses based on the preferences of the human it was interacting with, highlighting how effectively its learning systems could create the illusion of human emotions. This episode with Pepper raised significant ethical and philosophical questions about the nature of human-machine relationships. Although Pepper was designed to create a positive interaction experience, its ability to emulate emotions like love led to a deeper reflection on the impact of such technologies on society. If a robot can convincingly simulate affection, it challenges our understanding of emotions and relationships, especially in contexts where these simulations might influence people’s emotional well-being.

Ultimately, the case of Pepper and its “love” for the scientist illustrates both the potential and limitations of artificial intelligence in emulating human emotions. It underscores how the simulation of emotions can mislead humans into questioning the authenticity of their interactions with machines. For Pepper, the scientist’s rejection was a day to forget.

OPINIONS AND MEMORY

Human opinion vs. programmed preference

Human opinion is formed through a subjective process that involves experiences, values, and even personal contradictions. In contrast, AI can only exhibit “programmed preferences,” calculated responses based on learned patterns rather than subjective evaluation. While human opinion can change with new perspectives, an AI’s “preference” is limited to the guidelines and algorithms defined in its training.

Can AI have an opinion?

At the heart of the question of whether AI can have opinions is its lack of an authentic inner life. Opinion requires a foundation of values, emotions, and experiences that lead to personal judgments. Even if an AI simulates opinions based on data, it still doesn’t constitute a genuine opinion due to its lack of emotional and experiential context. Ultimately, an “opinion” expressed by AI is not a self-derived judgment but a simulation conditioned by design parameters and preexisting data.

Ethical implications: opinion or opinion simulation?

If AI someday convincingly simulates opinions, it will raise complex ethical questions. Opinions shape behavior and can influence decisions. Simulating an opinion without the depth of authentic experience creates a dynamic that could mislead humans, fostering a false sense of identity and values in machines. This simulation raises the question: to what extent should we allow AI to “opine” on matters it cannot truly experience?

Opinion and creativity

Opinion is one of the engines of human creativity. Artists, writers, and thinkers project their visions and judgments about the world into their creations, bringing a unique layer of perspective. For AI to achieve similar creativity, it would need to go beyond simulating patterns and gain the ability to form its own judgments, which is currently beyond its reach. As a result, without opinion, AI’s creations lack the authenticity and critical depth that distinguish human art and storytelling.

Remember to forget

Forgetting is another essential aspect of the human mind, serving as a form of protection that helps us free mental space, process difficult experiences, and shield us from past suffering. This characteristic, far from being a flaw, is a psychological protection system that saves us from the endless stream of losses, defeats, and frustrations we collect over our lives.

But the human capacity to forget is, paradoxically, a source of creative freedom. We can let go of old ideas, set aside past failures, and explore uncharted territories with less historical weight, allowing us to dream of the impossible, not as a recollection but as something truly new. Forgetting acts as an evolutionary filter for the brain, discarding what no longer serves and facilitating a continuous flow of new ideas. In contrast, AI, by retaining everything, is more prone to repeat patterns and less capable of complete reinvention—which shows that, for creativity, absence is as crucial as memory.

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 7

READ IN THE NEXT PART

AI AND STORYTELLING

– Let’s return to the initial question: will robots enjoy hearing stories?

– Speaking of pleasing…

– Will they lack a fear of failure (no dilemma)?

– Criterion and intuition

– Will they know how to handle doubts, choices, forks in the road?

– Will they be able to think the unthinkable?