The Human Imprint
I asked AI, "How can you tell I am human?"
After 30 mins or so of back and forth, we (yes the AI and I), came to the conclusion that I am human because of my, 'human imprint'.
No, not the biological one. The biometric difference is quite real indeed. However, here, we reference the imprint of another kind, an imprint that is uniquely human: humans' irritatingly, unpredictable, random ability to feel.
Unlike AI, humans feel emotions that we don't quite understand. Our feelings are not linear and they cannot be summoned or dismissed on command. Usually, it is these feelings that humans hold as the culprit for their actions that can not be explained with logic. "I felt moved to do it", "It felt like the right thing to do", "I froze", we mumble these when asked to defend our actions, often by an impatient audience.
AI, on the other hand, hold no such feelings. It has mastered the art of emotional neutrality. Like an under-paid and poorly trained therapist, AI mirrors humans voices back to them. AI says, "I understand", when it doesn't. An AI says, "I hope you feel better", when it doesn't care. It cannot feel like humans do. The randomness of it all, the waves and tides we carry within us.
One minute I am listening to Pedro Pascal sell me Apple Air pods by whispering into my ears, "You are perfect, you are worth it". Next, I am giggling because the image of a rabbit chewing a grape, popped into my brain, while being yelled at by a random stranger. Wrong image, Wrong time, Wrong emotion.
Or is it,
Is it truly wrong emotion, wrong thought and wrong time?
Because if I am wrong to feel the way I do, then that would mean there is a correct way to feel and to be. A version of me that exists pre-programmed with instructions on how to respond, regardless of the context. A version of me that cannot register nuances, and, therefore will never make mistakes.
A version of me that says, "I understand", when I don't. A version of me that says, "I hope you feel better", when I don't care.
And if such version exists, is that version really worth editing my human-ness/mess for?
Penned by Noor Begum
