The anthropomorphization of AI and the AI-fication of humans
In last week's issue of Science Magazine, Melanie Mitchell reminded us that the narratives we weave depend crucially on the metaphors we use to describe a situation, an event, a concept, a tool, or hashtag#AI.
We are fundamentally "storytelling animals" (which, according to Jonathan Gottschall, makes us human) and we NEED metaphors, for everything, everywhere, all the time, to tell the stories that help us make sense of the world. Our brains fill out missing bits and pieces based on the metaphors selected: our brains are in fact "auto-complete" devices in that way, where metaphors provide the context window for the completion of a narrative.
It is therefore crucial that we remain aware of the metaphors we use. The general category of anthropomorphic metaphors is but one of the most prevalent ones. There is also the opposite metaphor, more insidious and de-humanizing: the AI-fication of humans, who are reduced to task performers. The AI-fication metaphor is equally dominant, it is just not as explicit.