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Empathy Can Be Simulated, and That Should Worry Us Less Than We Think
Performed empathy is often all a supportive interaction requires, so the real question is where the absence of genuine feeling actually starts to matter.
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ELIZA's Creator Spent His Life Warning Us About ELIZA
Joseph Weizenbaum built the first therapy chatbot in 1966, watched people confide in it knowing it was a trick, and spent the rest of his life arguing against doing this.
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We May Need a Right to Mental Quiet
As systems are built to occupy attention and simulate intimacy at vulnerable moments, protection from them may belong in the language of rights, not screen-time tips.
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Prediction Is Not Understanding, in Brains or in Machines
A system can forecast what comes next with great accuracy while grasping nothing about why — so accurate prediction, in a brain or a model, is no proof of comprehension.
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Diagnosis Is a Decision, Not a Discovery
Where a person crosses from distressed into ill is a threshold society sets — a value-laden decision dressed up as a medical discovery.