As customized AI-driven digital companions become increasingly prevalent, some argue that human emotional awareness is diminishing in importance, others assert that it is becoming more vital than ever before. This essay will explore both sides of the debate before outlining my stance.
Emotional intelligence is believed to become less critical as an increasingly number of people are relying on personal AI assistants with every task. With rapid technological advancements, they are not only capable of answering questions and giving information but also replying to messages, making a post on social media or sending an email for their users. This flexibility may reduce direct interactions, which enhances human’s dependency on AI. Consequently, some people may think it is not necessary to develop emotional intelligence as personalized AI assistants have done all their tasks and even interact on behalf of them.
On the other hand, it is argued that AI cannot replace human in terms of emotional awareness. Although artificial intelligence assistants can perform some daily tasks, they are not capable of building trustworthy interactions and developing relationships for human. Like many other digital agents, AI systems could still encounter errors when operating. If relying completely on adaptive machine-learning tools without any monitoring, it can cause misunderstanding and break ties of relationships. For example, if a person is dealing with the death of their loved one by a sarcasm post, AI assistants may evaluate the words’ nuance incorrectly and reply funnily or even send congratulations instead of condolences for their loss.
From my perspective, as AI continues to advance, human emotional intelligence is becoming more indispensable than ever. I believe it is vital that we develop empathy and social competence, which is how human is separated from artificial intelligence. In conclusion, personalized AI assistants should only operate under supervision of their users, and AI cannot replace human to build long-trusting connection among human.