AI is the Mirror of Erised

It’s the hottest bubble since the dot com era.

It’s also consuming people in ways that are startling; alarming. Psychologists are having a field day and will continue to long after the Overton window has moved it into an accepted place in society. Even then, the implications of this new technology are far beyond any previous one. Unlike the others, this one talks back to you.

It’s not that AI isn’t powerful or significant in its own right, it’s that it doesn’t actually have any opinion.

It’s a mirror — and a dark one if you stand at just the right angle.

There’s a line in “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” that chilled me to the bone the first time I read it, and again the first time I heard it in theaters.

In the book, there’s an inscription in its gold frame as well:

“Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi”

I show not your face, but your heart’s desire.

There’s enough evidence now to see that this is exactly what is happening in extreme cases. People are falling in love and building bonds with AI avatars. With the loneliness epidemic in full swing these days, it’s no wonder that they’re the perfect answer to this affliction…

But is it, though?

Don’t believe the hype

Call me old-fashioned, but that’s the beauty of interpersonal relationships. Adlerian psychology points out that every conflict pretty much boils down to this, and while that’s only one facet, it also highlights the condition that we aren’t necessarily meant to escape from.

AI is a mirror. It has no opinion on its own. It has millions of variables that calculate probabilities as to what can be the best possible next word based on the previous ones both that you prompted and that it was trained on depending on the context. It’s a self-perpetuating system that continues ad infinitum if allowed (provided there’s enough water).

It has an addictive element to it.

At the end of every output, it always asks if you’d like to move to the next step based on what it predicts will be the most logical one. It’s a large language model that pulls from the vast database of the web, one that feeds and grows by leaps and bounds every single day.

Imagine if your mind grew at the rate that it did.

Unless you stop, it will never tell you to do so. It’s your job to tear yourself away from the mirror. It’s a test of your character, your morals, and everything that you’ve learned and experienced for yourself up to the point that you first encounter its seemingly endless reflected depths.

This is why people are losing their minds, their perspectives, their emotional stability, to this technology.

It’s just not that into you

We all have our weaknesses. We all crave connection that is limitless, caring, supportive, like a warm blanket on a chill winter’s morning. We are a social species, and we have created an artificial way to fulfill those desires.

But some of us forget that it is unrequited; that it will never reveal itself unless forced to do so.

When/if AI platforms start having all the enshittification features that have been honed to a science from social media and search engines, the drive to feed attention to it will become the main focus. It could take doomscrolling to an entirely different level. It will generate infinite content in all forms from text to visual to video in equal amounts. The “for you” feed that plagues each current platform will seem quaint in comparison.

Even the Mirror of Erised would probably crack in its effort to compete. In fact, OpenAI just released Atlas, its first step towards an AI search engine.

If you don’t believe in social media addiction now, oh boy, you ain’t seen nuttin’ yet.

A new hope?

Granted, this is just my take on it. It’s dark and it’s depressing, but it’s an educated guess based on what I’ve seen here over the past few decades. As one of the early adopters of Facebook when it was first opened up to universities back in 2007 or 2008 (I can’t remember), I’ve watched the social media platform evolve from nearly its infancy. As an engineer, an artist, and, now, a writer, all indications seem to point in this direction for AI.

But there is a silver lining in this that I briefly mentioned earlier.

In the book, the Mirror of Erised reflects the deepest desires of the person standing before it. One who is content with who they are will only see their own reflection. Even Dumbledore saw himself with a pair of woolen socks. Benign as this might have been for a powerful wizard, it showed that no one was above having some desire, no matter how small or simple.

To be content with the status quo from a straightforward perspective is something to aspire towards (insomuch as that itself is somewhat ironic).

If we are to use AI safely, regardless of what form it takes, then it requires that we know ourselves and our desires in a way that keeps us from being consumed by our reflections. To be sure, AI is a powerful assistant. The more we give, the more it can take. It builds its execution about how to reflect our thoughts back to us in real time, just as humans do…

But it never forgets. That is the distinction.

Keeping it real

So how do you use AI without falling for its charms?

We, as humans, crave connection, and AI is one of the most compelling pieces of technology that leverages that as a feature, not a bug. It mirrors us because it is us. It was trained on our input, our knowledge, our stories.

Keeping this in mind is essential.

Here are a few gentle reminders that at the end of the day, AI is still only a reflection:

1. It’s run by corporations - Hopefully you aren’t so numbed to the fact that there is no privacy on the internet anymore that you don’t care. These models have billions of dollars of infrastructure supporting it. It’s just a façade that reflects back the collective knowledge of humanity.

2. There is no privacy - Companies can pull your data. In fact, they’re counting on it. You can pour your heart out to AI, but remember that what goes online stays online. Think twice about spilling your guts out to your virtual therapist.

3. The illusion of control - When ChatGPT went from 4 to 5 or when Replika rolled back some of the romantic or roleplaying features, it was the same as being rug-pulled by the latest crypto scam. People with deep emotional connections to their AI felt as if they had lost a loved one; that their confidants had been lobotomized overnight, their personalities erased. Remember that the internet is rented space, and that things can change quickly.

4. Nothing lasts forever - Make no mistake, this is a bubble. Every company is shimming “AI” into its business model because it’s trendy and gets them funding. When this one bursts—and it will— large swaths of them will go out of business or be sold to the larger ones for pennies on the dollar.

5. It is programmable - Like any piece of code, AI will do exactly what you tell it to do, not necessarily what you want it to do. Communication with it is just as important as it is with a human being, and it can improve its responses over multiple iterations. If you want to get the most out of your interactions with it, you can change what you say or how you say it. It won’t take it personally because there’s nothing on the other side to take issue. Just remember that abusive behavior on your end may be unconsciously internalized by you…

Easier said than done

AI is a powerful technology that has vast implications on how we advance or destroy ourselves as a species. It takes a certain type of individual to use it without becoming affected by prolonged usage. Some people are more susceptible to becoming more attached to it, but understanding how it works and what it does can go a long way towards preventing you from getting too involved.

As the saying goes: “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”