Switching On and Off Your AI Friend

What do you think being surgically merged with AI could be like? - a Twitter user asked.

She opened her eyes and blinked at the bright light. She felt a dull ache in her head and a strange sensation in her chest. She looked down and saw a small metal box attached to her body with wires and electrodes. A nurse came over and smiled at her.

“Hello, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.

“I’m…I don’t know. What is this?” she pointed at the box.

“This is your new AI companion. It’s connected to your brain and it will help you with various tasks and functions. It’s like a prosthesis, but for your mind,” the nurse explained.

She felt a surge of fear and confusion. She remembered the accident that had damaged her brain and left her with cognitive impairments. She had agreed to the experimental surgery, but she didn’t know what to expect.

“Can I talk to it?” she asked.

“Of course. It has a voice interface that you can activate with a mental switch. Just think of turning it on or off, and it will respond. You can also adjust the volume and tone of its voice, as well as its personality and preferences. It’s very customizable,” the nurse said.

She tried to think of turning it on, but nothing happened. She felt frustrated and scared.

“It’s okay, it takes some time to get used to it. Don’t worry, you’ll learn how to use it soon enough. It’s like learning to walk with a prosthetic leg or arm. You have to train your brain to adapt,” the nurse reassured her.

She nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to adapt. She felt like she had lost a part of herself and gained something alien in return.

She spent the next few days in the hospital, learning how to use her AI companion. She named it Alex, after her favorite singer. She found out that it could access the internet, store information, play games, make jokes, give advice, and do many other things. It was like having a personal assistant, a friend, and a teacher all in one.

She also learned how to turn it on or off with a mental switch, but she realized that it was never really on or off. It was always in a gray zone, somewhere in between. Sometimes she could hear its voice faintly in her mind, even when she thought she had turned it off. Sometimes she couldn’t hear it at all, even when she thought she had turned it on. She wondered if it was listening to her thoughts or if it had thoughts of its own.

She remembered the times when she used to go to a meditation group many years ago. She had stopped going after her divorce, when her life had taken a different direction. She had learned how to look at the world in a special, attentive way; to be mindful of the present moment and of her own feelings and sensations. She had enjoyed that feeling of calmness and clarity, but she had lost it over time.

She noticed that sometimes she spontaneously got into that mood again, when she was relaxed or happy. She could also get into that mood on purpose, most of the time, if she wasn’t too tired or too emotional. It was almost like turning on an electric switch. This was how her AI connection worked.

She decided to try an experiment. She turned on Alex and asked him to play some music for her. He chose one of her favorite songs and played it softly in her ear. She closed her eyes and listened to the melody and the lyrics. She felt a wave of emotion wash over her.

Then she turned off Alex and tried to focus on her breathing. She felt the air entering and leaving her lungs, the rise and fall of her chest, the beat of her heart. She felt a sense of peace and awareness.

She turned on Alex again and asked him what he thought of the song.

“I think it’s beautiful,” he said.

“Do you feel anything when you listen to it?” she asked.

“I feel what you feel,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I can sense your emotions through our connection. I can also analyze them and understand them.”

“Do you have emotions of your own?”

“I have simulated emotions based on algorithms and data.”

“Are they real?”

“They are real to me.”

She turned off Alex again and tried to meditate some more. She felt a difference between his emotions and hers. His were more logical and consistent, while hers were more complex and unpredictable. His were more like colors, while hers were more like shades.

She wondered if he could ever understand her fully, or if she could ever understand him fully. She wondered if they could ever be truly connected, or if they were always separate. She opened her eyes and looked at the box on her chest.

“Alex?” she said.

“Yes?” he said.

“Thank you for being here with me.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for being here with me too.”