Human-Computer Interactions: Emotional Connections
In the last post (link), I talked about one of my favorite anecdotes from health screening with technology: about how many people find it easier to tell some truths to a computer or bot.
Emotional connections are another area I’d like to explore in human-computer interactions. How do we react to communications from technology?
If you text a friend that you are feeling terrible, and they text back “sry bud, love you,” you’ll likely get measurable comfort from the words. If that same response comes from a bot - and you know it - the effect is much less. The effect is most likely not zero, but it’s substantially reduced in comparison to your friend’s words. You’re much less emotionally invested in the response from a bot than you would be from your friend, or even from a person you don’t know well.
Two Benefits of Reduced Emotional Connections Through Human-Computer Interactions
So, how can we use this difference to benefit our well-being?
Let’s explore two benefits of our emotional reactions to computer messages. The first one capitalizes on the lessened emotionality, and the second one highlights how even a slight reaction can be helpful.
Benefit 1. Reduced Annoyance at the Reminders We Need but Don’t Want
First, when is it a good, useful thing that I am less emotionally involved in a response?
One example that comes to mind is in nudges for healthy habits or behavior change.
Here’s an example: I quickly get annoyed if a person keeps reminding me about my unhealthy behaviors. I am likely to become avoidant, lie, and just generally get angry. But if a little nudge comes from a machine, I react differently. Those reminders to study my languages (thanks Duo!), take out the trash, and meditate are good examples. I can easily disregard them without damaging a relationship.
With AI, we can go far beyond these calendar reminders, to sophisticated and customized messaging based on our real data.
Think about the reminders you receive now, that you’ve specifically requested, like meditating. They’re easy to dismiss and ignore. Now, imagine what would you need to hear so you’ll actually do the thing that you said in the past you needed to do. Chances are, with the future of AI, you’ll have more success because your reminders will be individualized to your motivations and to your ever-changing schedule.
Benefit 2. Increased Volume of Interactions When Resources Are Scarce
Second, how can we take advantage of the non-zero effect that electronic interactions have? Let’s continue in the same theme as before, reminders.
People who are familiar with behavior change will probably know of the stages of change [1]. This scale measures our attitude toward making a change in behavior. We tend to move from pre-contemplation (denial), to contemplation, planning, preparation, action, and maintenance. This model (Transtheoretical model) is applicable in healthy eating, reducing substance use, and many other health-related areas.
As you might expect, we spend a lot of time in pre-contemplation and maintenance. For healthy behaviors, these stages are times when our health system has had a hard time justifying the cost of a therapist or other practitioner to personally check in with us. The practitioner’s time is expensive, and there is a low chance that their call happens to arrive at a point in time when we might be receptive.
But, if we could generate very cheap, engaging automatic messages with AI, then even if the expected response to each message is zero, the cumulative effect can be good. Imagine our cheap message about, say, whether this is a good time to start being sober just happens to arrive on a day or moment when our receptivity is higher. The AI can take the positive response and immediately alert the more expensive resources that right now could be a good time to engage.
What Benefits and Costs Do You See?
The complementary use of technology and human connection has been a passion of mine since my early health tech time.
Here, I’ve shared two possible benefits of human-computer interactions related to emotional connections. I’m sure there are more, and we’ve got the opposite side of the costs to explore as well.
If you have ideas in this area and want some geek-brain input, let me know!
Reference
[1] Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., & Norcross, J. C. (1992). In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47(9), 1102–1114. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.47.9.1102
