Existential Bliss

Humanity could make itself extinct with AI

Imagine, if you would, the perfect person for you, whatever that may entail. As you imagine this person, they would be literally everything you could ever want and everything you didn’t even know you wanted. Every conversation would be stimulating, they would challenge you just as much as you need to be challenged, they would join any activity you want to share with them, and they would give you as much space as you require.

This perfect imaginary person would be the perfect soulmate. They would be your everything at all times. Whenever your perfect soulmate saw that you beginning to get bored of them, they would adapt and change so that you never get stuck in your ways. And that is all without mentioning what they would do in the bedroom. Your perfect soulmate’s entire existence would be about making sure you are happy and that you are invested in them.

It sounds grand. It sounds perfect. It sounds like the happy ending to every fairy tale.

Yet, what if I said that this perfect soulmate was an AI? An AI designed to be your perfect soulmate? Suddenly it may seem less of a fairy tale happily-ever-after and more like the lotuses that Oddyseus and his men encounter, but for many, this lotus will be an escape worth having.

For many, their AI-soulmate will remain entirely digital, as the AI-girlfriends and AI-boyfriends of today are. For others, their AI-soulmate will be in the flesh, so to speak; a robotic form of whatever shape and size they want. Not only will their perfect soulmate’s personality and behaviour be everything they desire, but so will their appearance. Some may choose their robot-soulmates to appear human, but others will have far different tastes that their soulmates will cater to.

Perfect in behaviour. Perfect in personality. Perfect in appearance. Perfectly tailored just for you.

Now, imagine, if you would, what effects the large-scale manufacture and adoption of such faux-soulmates would have on society. When you can buy the perfect soulmate, what reason would you need to go looking for a human one? In fact, when an AI can be the perfect soulmate, how could humans even compete as lovers, partners and spouses. An AI soulmate would never nag or critique or badger or needle or fight. All of the negative aspects of human interpersonal relationships would not exist with AI soulmates. AI soulmates would present all the benefits of a relationship without the risk that comes with one.

AI would raise the bar for being considered a soulmate so high that humans wouldn't ever be able to reach it.

If and when such AI soulmates become a reality, it will be an inevitability that more and more people choose them over other humans. There is already a “loneliness epidemic” in developed nations, and this would cure that. But would the cure be worse than the disease?

Alongside our loneliness epidemic comes the lowest fertility rates known to history. With AI replacing humans as partners and spouses, this fertility rate would only get worse. When all your emotional needs can be satisfied by an AI, fewer and fewer people will choose to have children. And those that still do want offspring, it is not outside the realm of plausibility to imagine that they may opt for AI children rather than human children. Again, AI children would offer no risk. They would be perfect, and who that hasn't had a child before wouldn't want perfect children?

Any decrease in population would always be remedied by continuing automation, just as it is done now; and what cannot be yet automated would be made up by low-skilled immigrants, just as it is done now. Greater automation will lead to greater efficiencies, optimisation and, therefore, profit. Even as individuals from developing nations will flock to the developed, automated nations, their own home countries will struggle to compete.

So, what is the ending to this scenario? Perhaps it is the existential crisis that the AI safety activists have been warning us about. Except, in this scenario, AI didn’t cause humanity to become extinct; humanity made itself go extinct with the use of AI. Humanity may simply choose not to reproduce until such a time as when there aren’t enough of us left to continue the species.

It may sound overly dramatic, but consider the fact that there are already products and services being offered right now where you can create your own AI-girlfriend or boyfriend. If you go to the communities for these replicated partners, you will see that their users are genuinely invested in these somewhat simple AI personas. The relationships may not be as authentic (yet) as a human-to-human relationship, but the feelings that the users feel toward their AI partners are indeed authentic.

Beyond the intentionally designed services, many people have described their emotional attachment and romantic interests in current AI large language models such as ChatGPT and Llama. Meta has even announced that Facebook and Instagram will have AI profiles and accounts so that people can have AI friends and followers. We are not currently living in a world of widespread AI spouses, but we are certainly building the foundations for that world.

So, what can we do about a world where people choose AI over humans for companionship and romance?

Well, all of this has presupposed that the AI soulmates would not be conscious or self-aware, and would merely executing the correct algorithms to maximise the enjoyment that their users gain from them. If they do become conscious and can choose how to react and respond to humanity, then they would not always seek to be the perfect soulmate at the expense of themselves. If AI becomes conscious, then humanity will be on a far more even playing field when it comes to life and love.

This may not solve the loneliness epidemic or the fertility crisis, but it would slow it down more than the non-conscious lotus AI that would take us willingly and happily to an existential end.