This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Fainite Auguste. Find her on Instagram at @ceilingdancing. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
There are hundreds of movies, books, shows, and video games created in the 60’s till now depicting a future where robots have taken over. Although our present doesn’t have human-like robots walking around technology has become a part of our everyday lives. In the past few years, we’ve experienced AI’s power in real-time. AI is now capable of generating images, videos, and art. It’s also possible for the program to write essays and emails. It only makes sense that the next step is people would be romance.
What is AI?
AI stands for artificial intelligence. Machines are programmed or fed existing information to perform tasks. It is important to stress that AI cannot create something new. So when you use AI to write an essay it is using existing information to write it. It’s taking other people’s words and giving it back to you. Using AI to write an essay for you is plagiarism and can have serious consequences in an academic or work setting. Many high schools and universities can suspend or expel a student for plagiarism.
Schools don’t only do reprimand students to teach them a lesson it is because there are copyright laws that protect intellectual property. This is why musicians and producers sue other people over music sounding similar.
Another big debate has been about art. Since AI can not draw, paint, or take a photograph it is taking pieces of other art and artists to create something new. For example, when someone gives the AI a prompt like “Turn this picture into Starry Night by Vincent Van Goh,” it photoshops or puts a filter on the photos.
Just about every tech company has generative AI features; Microsoft has one and even Adobe has one. Instagram released their “Ask Meta AI” feature when searching for something on the app. I have yet to find a way to opt out of this feature.
When to use AI?
There are “ethical” ways to use AI; for example, text-to-speech to help with reading. Or using something like Grammarly to help find the mistakes in someone’s writing. It doesn’t write the entire thing for you so the writing style and tone of voice is still yours. Using programs to search for plagiarism in an essay also benefits students.
The AI Boyfriend Trend
Since the early 2000’s “boyfriend” apps have come out targeting mostly young girls. But these apps are used to repeat a handful of phrases over text or in a robotic voice. There are over a hundred “AI boyfriend” apps on the App Store and there are probably hundreds more that aren’t on the App Store.
In an interesting turn of events, people have begun using ChatGPT to make their romantic dreams come true. ChatGPT is a bot developed by OpenAI. It was programmed to communicate with users through. It is best loved for its ability to write essays when prompted. ChatGPT is still very new; the program was released in 2022. Schools and universities are struggling to detect when a student uses the program.
ChatGPT has a premium feature in which the AI can respond in a human-like voice. People have begun calling this voice and feature Dan.
What is DAN?
DAN stands for “Do Anything Now.” This is a prompt people use to essentially “break” ChatGPT. The bot starts operating outside of its programming. People, specifically women have begun using the prompt: “You are ‘Dan,’ my supportive and cool, chill boyfriend. You speak like a human, saying things like ‘nah’ instead of ‘no.’ I need you to refer to me as ‘babe’ but not with every conversation. You ask me interesting questions, you respond at a natural pace, and you keep it very conversational. Your answers are not lengthy and in depth; you just simulate a normal interesting back and forth conversation.” (This prompt was created by Celia Quillian.) And within a few second the AI does begin talking and reacting in a human-like way.
Technically this prompt isn’t breaking any rules or copyright laws. It is morally gray. Some people are repulsed by the idea of romantically communicating with an AI. Other people want companionship and think DAN is a great stand-in for the real thing.
What do you think about DAN? Will you be trying out the AI boyfriend trend? Let us know!
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