Jamaicans are being warned that the increasing availability of artificial intelligence (AI) companions is likely to further erode traditional family values in the country.
Dr Michael Coombs, a medical doctor and founder and chair of the National Association for the Family, notes that the rejection of the traditional family and the promotion of relationships that are not in keeping with the biblical family raise serious concerns about AI companions.
“The concern is that AI is not driven by values. In other words, it’s not value-driven and, of course, not biblical values by any stretch of the imagination. So it’s not based on a foundation of traditional values when it concerns family life,” Dr Coombs told the Freedom Come Rain newspaper.
Even before the advent of AI companions, or chatbots, many Jamaicans had abandoned the traditional family structure, as more than 80 per cent of children are born out of wedlock. Further, the dysfunction in many households and high rate of domestic violence confirm serious erosion of traditional values among Jamaicans.
“And so if we expose our population, especially our young people, to AI, which does not promote certain values, then clearly it is going to have an impact on their choices in terms of forming their own families, especially in the context of the reality that many of our young adults who are about to make their choices about forming their own families do not have good role models in terms of their own homes,” he said.
The number of people forming romantic attachments with chatbots has skyrocketed globally. Several studies have shown that young adults are disengaging from dating en masse and are turning to AI for life advice and romantic connections.
A survey of nearly 10,000 people across the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, Indonesia and Hong Kong found that almost 50% of young adults in these six economies think AI romantic companionship will improve human happiness through emotional support in the next decade.
“While the global (general population) remains wary, the next generation is actively redefining the boundaries of companionship,” YouGov and the media company that commissioned the research, Tokyo-based Star X Gen, found.
Replika, an AI companion platform which markets itself as “the AI friend to fall in love with”, claims it has attracted more than 42 million registered users globally. Users are able to create customised digital companions tailored to their emotional needs. AI companions are deemed more appealing because unlike human partners, AI companions are available at any time, never become tired, and do not pursue their own interests or agendas.
