Dr Colman Noctor from the SETU School of Nursing gave a talk on Loneliness and Trust in the Age of AI.
Dr Colman Noctor, child and adolescent psychotherapist and a lecturer in the School of Nursing at SETU, gave a compelling TEDx presentation at Trinity College recently, addressing the topic of AI and how it could potentially impact our future sociability.
TEDx Talks are grass-roots events, based on the TED Talk model designed to share "ideas worth spreading" across science, business, technology, and creativity.
An expert on social media's impact on children, Dr Noctor chose the topic ' Loneliness and Trust in the Age of AI,' having studied the impact of technology on mental health for the past 16 years. In recent years in particular, he has become concerned about the advances in AI from a human relationship point of view.
Among the topics covered in Colman's presentation were: The unintended side effects of having conversations with non-humans (AI companions); how the online world gives us what we want, but not what we need; how AI is eroding basic trust when it comes to communication, and what we can do to protect ourselves.
He believes it's crucial human connections are not lost: "The operational use of AI will change how we work forever, but the social use of AI may change how we relate to each other forever. The erosion of human trust could be catastrophic for our relationships and we need to acknowledge that now before it’s too late," he said.
The operational use of AI will change how we work forever, but the social use of AI may change how we relate to each other forever. The erosion of human trust could be catastrophic for our relationships and we need to acknowledge that now before it’s too late
Colman Noctor, SETU School of Nursing
Commenting on how the content of his TEDx presentation could be relatable to SETU students, Dr Noctor said: "I think our students are at the highest risk of becoming over-reliant on AI. They are the guinea pigs in the latest iteration of the tech experiment and I feel compelled to warn them of the risks to their relationships and their futures. I incorporate this into all my teaching and run a fourth year module where AI in healthcare is a major component," he said.
Positive application of AI
Focusing on the positive elements of AI, Colman outlined that as part of the AI in Healthcare module at SETU, distinctions are made between the occupational use of AI and the social use. The module is centred around Health Psychology; looking at the clear advantages of AI in healthcare settings in terms of diagnostics, scheduling and improving efficiency while also warning against the need to keep human-focused care to the forefront.
The module also covers some of the benefits of AI in terms of its social uses; for example, using Chat GPT and other platforms for mental health advice, companionship and assessment completion.
"I also speak to all incoming first year students about the importance of offline communities and we hold an induction event called 'facilitating friendships' for incoming first years to promote offline in person communities," Dr Noctor added.
You can watch Colman's TEDx presentation here:
