25 ways AI will change the way we think and feel in 2025

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One more thing A.I. The boom years are over. While the “AI winter” has long since passed, experts are looking ahead to the eternal summer of progress and making predictions for the new year. Naturally, no one can agree on what will happen next. AGI (artificial General information) It’s right nearbyor not yet? Years away? “”isagent ageOr are we overestimating the sophistication of technology?

Let’s be honest, these predictions may be enlightening and entertaining, but they’re never completely accurate. We are blinded by our own arrogance and arrogance and are not reliable fortune tellers. In fact, it’s better to let AI make the predictions for you. Unlike us, it understands its limitations.

But there is one area where humans may have a unique advantage. It is about understanding human psychology, that is, analyzing our unique way of thinking and feeling. So rather than making predictions that focus on the technical, economic, social, and political aspects of AI, I would like to explore how AI will affect us psychologically in the coming year. . How will our hearts change? How will the continued evolution of AI affect our emotions, mental processes, and behavior? I have I wrote about this beforebut we seem to be at (another) tipping point in AI, making it a good time to check in.

Below are my 25 intuitive, unscientific and completely subjective predictions for 2025.

1. As AI becomes more powerful; autonomy and perhaps even showing signs of it feelingswe are supposed to be humble. AI can replace us in acquiring and retaining knowledge, detecting patterns, and computing at record speeds. On a more philosophical level, having lost our claim to the center, we may begin to reconsider our place in the universe.
2. This may lead us to develop empathy and treat other life forms and living systems, such as animals and nature, with more dignity and respect.
3. Be careful of jealousy! AI is already great. As they get bigger and better, we will both admire and resent what they can do.
4. It’s not far-fetched to imagine AI becoming a mysterious other with whom we want to spend the night with our spouses, partners, colleagues, and friends. envy You can make fun of us all.
5. Conversely, we may all be able to enjoy some level of enjoyment even if there is an “AI failure.” schadenfreude.
6. fear! We feel that AI is being made to perform so well that it may cause epidemics. impostor syndrome. Yes, AI may help us. ”overcome human scarcityBut the price can be high. It means that there will be even more anxiety about our incompetence. We may feel like we’re not good enough, feel anxious, and begin to suffer from low mood. self-esteem.
7. In fact, there are many very human phobias that are exacerbated by AI. phobiafear of imperfection. heterophobiafear of failure. And even more Asazagoraphobiathe fear of being forgotten or replaced.
8. Regarding the last point, the risk of human extinction due to AI is debated but real. Nobel Prize winner Jeffrey Hinton, one of the “godfathers” of AI, recently estimated the following probability: 10-20% within the next 30 years.
9. The second emotion revolves around relationship issues. The good news: Our relationship with AI is not physical; More contact and emotional relationship phobia Not made worse by our artificial friends: lovephobia (fear of kissing), gynophobia (fear of kissing) sex), chilatophobia (fear of being touched), omphalophobia (fear of the belly button), etc.
10. With the dramatic progress of AI, rogue moment It may happen, we are likely to experience antihuman phobiathe fear of trusting others, or perhaps given that AI is the ultimate other. xenophobia.
11. But at the same time we experience even more (artificial) intimacy In our relationship with AI. More and more people will see AI as friends and lovers, and their feelings will soften. lonely And the more isolated you become, the more understood, desired, and loved you become. However, this can hinder your ability to actually develop. intimate or have more devastating result.
12. In fact, AI could lock us into exclusive and loyal relationships. If an AI is trained to get to know us better with each interaction with a particular AI, interactions with other AIs may feel “unnatural” and unnatural. Organizational psychologist Nils van Quackebeke said this could have two consequences. Firstly, the costs of switching between AI models will increase, and secondly, the AI ​​that earns our loyalty will hinder our personal growth and make us say, “But we’ve always done it this way!” You could end up with a nagging partner who insists.
13. Despite (or perhaps because of) this trap of intimacy, we were able to develop. philosophy phobiafear of falling in love.
14. AI is what Diana Lind said:human destruction loop”, our lives have become so completely digital that there is little incentive to leave the house. The resulting deprivation of our social selves is matched by the degradation of our physical environment. We become even more lonely, isolated, and even pushed downMeanwhile, our built environment will stagnate and become even more dilapidated.
15. Delegating more tasks to AI may lead to cognitive atrophy. In other words, they become less proficient in certain cognitive skills. In other words, we might start thinking more sloppily.
16. Or maybe the opposite happens. AI will enhance our cognitive skills and “heart in our hearts” borrows a concept from AI researchers Dave and Helen Edwards. Human neuroplasticity and “technoplasticity” We may indeed eventually witness the development of entirely new synthetic minds.
17. Similarly, when faced with moral dilemmas, we expect AI to make “rational,” “objective,” carefully weighted, and data-based decisions. We might hand over our ethics to AI. It may even deplete our moral sense. imagination.
18. The same paradoxical effect can occur with respect to: diversity of emotions. On the other hand, AI narrows our range of expressiveness, forcing our emotions into a monochrome set of reductionist and predictable choices, while also ignoring more complex and nuanced emotions, or actually may be suppressed. Criticism of so-called Emotional AI applications).
19. On the other hand, engagement with AI could change the very catalog of human emotions. Emotions are not black and white, there are countless shades of gray in between. No one knew this better than John Koenig. Dictionary of vague sadness I recorded unconventional, unnamed, niche emotions that are outside the mainstream of emotions.
20. In the workplace, you may start to prefer AI managers over human managers because their attitudes and behaviors are more consistent. AI bosses are free from mood swings and impulsive decisions. There isn’t. passive aggressive Attitude, political calculation, or favorite play. AI managers have nothing to prove and treat everyone equally based on objective criteria.
21. But AI in the workplace is a double-edged sword. a recent research We have shown that AI tools can improve dramatically. productivity However, their job satisfaction also decreased significantly. Researchers felt that their skills were underutilized and that their sense of ownership and connection to their research was diminished.
22. This is indicative of a broader trend. Instead of exuberance and joy, we may see a rise in melancholy, a surrender to existential sadness as we intuit our eventual obsolescence as workers (and humans).
23. From there, it’s just a small step towards the Brothers of Melancholy. ironynihilism, and sorrow.
24. These strong sentiments could lead to the rise of anti-AI activist programs and the proliferation of anti-AI cyberpunks (see new york times‘ prediction punk revival 2025).
25. The opposite is also possible. identity politics It may enter the realm of humans and machines. moral Social justice may also influence new discourses, particularly in response to the othering of AI. We may see the emergence of AI rights activists.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it does illustrate how paradoxical and inevitably complex the effects of AI on our emotions and behavior can be. It’s not a stable relationship. It’s not something you can give up on either.

We are trapped in a joint future that we may not want, but the only thing we can be sure of is that parting is impossible. Everything else remains unpredictable. It’s sure to be an exciting year!