Today’s episode of The Psychology World Podcast will be on cognitive psychology as we look at the impact advancements in Artificial Intelligence and other technology could have on human behaviour as well as mental processes.
Note: I highly recommend listening to the podcast episode on this topic as this blog post is only a summarised version to some extent.
Artificial Intelligence News:
Firstly, I did want to say that I was going to have an AI voice double for you but I couldn’t get the tech to work but I promise you that this technology is real. You can see it in action on www.deepzen.io or www.descript.com
The first AI-generated textbook was published in April 2019. “Writing in the introduction, Springer Nature’s Henning Schoenenberger (a human) says books like this have the potential to start “a new era in scientific publishing” by automating drudgery.” [The Verge]
[Forbes]
“We’re moving inexorably toward a subscription-driven, human-driven, emotion-driven, ad-free, funnel-free, big brand loyalty-free world.” Mark W Schaefer, Marketing Rebellion
A human’s greatest psychological need is to belong, and yet there is a belonging gap in the world – people are lonelier than ever.” – Mark W. Schaefer, Marketing Rebellion
The Theory:
In addition, I just wanted to say upfront that technology does have an impact on our cognition, and you can read Cognitive Psychology 2nd Edition for more information.
However, in short, we know that our experience of the world shapes our neuronal connections in our brain because of neuroplasticity. (Biological Psychology 2nd Edition)
However, as more and more of humanity is becoming exposed to technology it’s reasonable to assume that our cognition could change because of our exposure to technology.
Finally, I wanted to say that Artificial Intelligence will change the world because whilst AI is similar to the internet of the 1970s. If we think about how far the internet has come since that decade and how important the internet has become to our lives. Then it is only logical to presume a similar thing will happen to Artificial Intelligence.
Let’s move onto my three predictions…
1) Our Cognition Will be Influenced
It is ridiculous to say that our cognition will not be influenced by Artificial Intelligence because technology and our experience is constantly shaping our mental processes. Whether it be our memories, our schemas, thinking patterns and even our thinking biases.
Furthermore, here are some studies that highlight the impact of technology on our behaviour.
· Rosser et al (2007) found that surgeons who played first-person video games were faster and more accurate in surgery simulations.
· Sanchez (2012) showed that playing first-person video games and other technology that requires spatial abilities could help students to understand abstract scientific concepts.
· Rosen and Cheever (2013) showed that students who surrounded themselves with more technology while studying scored lower average grades than others.
Overall, I hope that you can see that technology does have an impact on our behaviour and Artificial Intelligence will be no different.
2) Humanity and Social Interaction will be more important than ever
As we have seen with the rise of the internet and by extension social media, people have reportedly felt lonelier than ever and as Artificial Intelligence spreads and creates Virtual Conferences, perhaps. Then we may feel the need to use this technology that could create the same experience instead of going out to see our friends or connect with people.
Due to instead of typing in a comment on social media or Facebook group, in the future, we may be able to ‘go’ into the group and comment by talking to the person.
Nevertheless, this will still create artificial relationships that aren’t real, and it will be most important than ever to connect with real people.
Moreover, with Artificial Intelligence allowing us to create voice doubles, AI films, write books and more. People will NOT be able to tell the difference in the future. This means people might be less likely to trust big companies or inhuman brands. Making human branding more important than ever.
This applies to the job market as well because if AI can write articles and content for companies, then why would a company ever want to employ you?
Resulting, in you needing to double down on being human and what makes you unique against the AI.
3) Education will be More Accessible
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have already seen a massive increase in Online learning and personally I like it- and this is going to continue through the first term of my second year at university.
In other words, online learning is the new norm but it is limited. There’s no sense of community. You can’t talk to your friends and it is very different from the lecture theatre at university. Also, it’s harder to ask questions.
Also, textbooks and other needed course materials are very expensive.
However, Artificial Intelligence and other advancements could change this. As Deepzen.io is creating AI narrated audiobooks and this could bring textbooks into audio formats. I would love this!
In addition, Virtual Reality could create virtual lecture theatres so the experience would be identical to ‘normal’ learning with all the normal benefits instead of the problems associated with remote learning.
Furthermore, as this is The Psychology World Podcast, this advancement in technology could make education more accessible to other people. As you aren’t constrained by physical capacity so you could have 1,000s of people all over the world logging on to attend this lecture.
This is already happening in the author world as you go to webinars to learn about different topics and there are 1,000s of people attending each session from ALL other the world. Meaning as a result of technology, this knowledge can be accessed by everyone.
So, I doubt this wouldn’t happen to formal education unless the Universities decide to seriously capitalise on this by charging extremely high prices.
Who knows?
I hope you've enjoyed today’s episode. Please check out the references for more information and have a great day!
References:
Links in Article
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