Chapter 22 – The Psychology of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an important, yet often invisible, role in our online lives. Interactions such as searches, online recommendations, and gaming are often based on AI. The role of Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in gaming is a clear example – the realism of these characters and their responses to player actions can have a significant impact on the perceived quality of a game. The rise in the quality of “chatbots” (interactive communicative agents), and their use in customer/user interfaces on websites is an interesting development, as is the inclusion of such chatbots as interaction devices on smartphones and mobile devices. The potential use of artificially intelligent robots as companion devices is explored, and the observed effects on specific populations are examined. The potential future role of artificial intelligence in human life is considered.
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Chapter 22 – Useful Websites
The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour have a website which provides some excellent insights into the field, along with further links to conferences, journals and other publications about the topic. All are available at:
Similar information can be found at the website of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, available at:
Take a look at the project portfolio of the MIT Personal Robots Group to see the systems that they are currently developing and their ongoing research themes at:
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Chapter 22 – Further Reading
John McCarthy provides an overview of artificial intelligence for the lay reader in the following document.
- McCarthy, J. (2007). What is Artificial Intelligence? Retrieved from:
- http://jmc.stanford.edu/articles/whatisai/whatisai.pdf
Poole and Mackworth (2017) authored a book (now in its second edition) describing artificial intelligence and provide it freely online. While much of the book is very technical in nature, the introductory chapters are particularly interesting for psychologists with an interest in the field.
- Poole, D. L. & Mackworth, A. K. (2017). Artificial Intelligence: Foundations of Computational Agents (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from:
- http://jmc.stanford.edu/articles/whatisai/whatisai.pdf
Ray Kurzweil responds to fears regarding the progress in artificial intelligence in an article in Time magazine online.
- Kurzweil, R. (2014, 19 December). Don’t fear Artificial Intelligence. Time. Retrieved from:
- http://time.com/3641921/dont-fear-artificial-intelligence/
Stanford University is conducting a 100-year-long study on the impact that artificial intelligence will have on many aspects of life, including psychology. The study is described briefly here.
- Cesare, C. (2014, 16 December). Stanford to host 100-year study on artificial intelligence. Stanford News. Retrieved from:
- http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/december/ai-century-study-121614.html
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Chapter 22 – Audio and Video links
Video links
This video demonstrates the use of a social robot with a group of elderly people.
The potential for AI and virtual humans in psychotherapy is explored in this video
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Chapter 22 – Essay questions
- Critically evaluate the potential use of artificially intelligent chatbots as psychotherapists.
- The complexities in defining human intelligence make it impossible to determine whether artificial intelligence is ever reached. Discuss.
- Evaluate whether the ethics of using artificially intelligent robots as caregivers for the elderly are appropriately considered by the manufacturers of such robots.
- It is possible that Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in video games could become too realistic due to the artificial intelligence they utilise during interactions with players. Discuss.