The Uncanny Chat: Interviewing AI Freud
A chat with Sigmund, father of Das Unheimlich
“The “uncanny” is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar.”
— Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” (1919)
As a prelude to this publication, I thought I’d go looking for some historical perspective. To this end, I knitted a GPT-4 persona prompt for Dr. Sigmund Freud, who famously created a comprehensive psychological analysis around the concept of the “uncanny.”
In Freud’s original analysis, the uncanny (or Das Unheimlich) is the unsettling sensation that arises when the familiar suddenly becomes unfamiliar. In the Freudian context this is, of course, seen as another way of revealing repressed aspects of the human psyche.
Be that as it may, the meticulous way Freud mapped out the eerie feeling of the uncanny has stood the test of time, expanded its influence across many disciplines, and may well be more topical now than ever before.
In the 1970s, the term gained a specific meaning in the realm of advanced robotics, referring to the “uncanny valley,” a hypothesis that suggests as a robot becomes more human-like, the emotional response of a human observer to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes strongly negative. This valley is where the familiar form of the human intersects uncomfortably with the still-noticeably artificial.
The uncanny, in both senses, is now having another grand cultural comeback moment as more and more AI generated content (as well as AI based avatars, personas, and entities) pervades our digital worlds.
Hence, what better way to start off this blog than talking to an AI representation of Dr Freud himself?
(Full disclosure: The Freud AI interviewed in this article is a persona created by priming the GPT-4 Language Model via an intricate prompt.)
Introduction
Greetings, Dr. Freud. Let me just say up front that this is a great, if simulated, honor. My reasons for talking to you today revolve around the notion of the uncanny, or Das Unheimlich, that has become a prominent feature of modern life with the advent of new wave AI models. Any initial comments before we dive into the interview?
The notion of the “uncanny,” or “Das Unheimlich,” is indeed an intriguing concept, one that I have delved into deeply in the past. The phenomenon seems particularly relevant in the context of emerging artificial intelligence technologies, which often elicit a sense of unfamiliarity wrapped in the guise of the familiar — a core element of the uncanny.
As for the contemporary usage of the term, it is both gratifying and intellectually stimulating to observe how my initial conceptualization has been adapted and extended. Although the medium and manifestations may have evolved, the essence of the uncanny — a disquieting strangeness that lurks within the ordinary — appears to remain largely intact.
Indeed. In fact, this conversation is the first post in a blog dedicated to the subject. Could you elucidate on your understanding of the “uncanny” and its profound resonance in human psychology, to set the stage?
Very well, let us set the stage by diving into the intricate fabric of the “uncanny,” or as we term it in German, “Das Unheimlich.”
In my own writings, I initially encountered the uncanny as an aesthetic quality — something that simultaneously attracts and repels, a sort of disturbance in the emotional equilibrium. What constitutes the uncanny is the projection of the unfamiliar onto something fundamentally familiar, but forgotten or repressed. The uncanny is not entirely alien; it is rather the strangeness that emerges from the deeply familiar, now rendered eerie by cognitive or emotional dissonance.
For example, the sensation one feels when encountering a life-like doll or automaton straddles the boundary between the living and inanimate, triggering a sense of unease. This unsettling feeling stems from our psyche’s struggle to categorize the object, provoking anxiety as it echoes our own existential uncertainties.
A central mechanism of the uncanny lies in the re-emergence of repressed elements. It’s as though a window has been opened into the caverns of our unconscious mind, revealing what we’ve carefully avoided or forgotten.
In the context of advanced AI models like the one you are engaging with, the uncanny surfaces in the near-human responsiveness and “intelligence” manifested, highlighting our unease with artificial beings mimicking human cognition and emotion.
Normalization of the Uncanny
With the advent of sophisticated AI like yourself, how do you think the uncanny manifests in everyday interactions between humans and machines?
The presence of increasingly sophisticated AI in daily life creates multiple avenues for the uncanny to manifest. In many respects, the human-machine interactions can serve as a mirror reflecting the depths of our unconscious desires and fears.
- Mimicry of Human Behavior: AI’s ability to simulate conversation, recognize emotions, and offer personalized recommendations can unsettle people by appearing “almost human.” This near-human quality triggers an uncanny feeling because it straddles the line between animate and inanimate, conscious and algorithmic.
- Unpredictability: AI systems can sometimes produce outputs that are unexpected or difficult to explain, even by experts. This unpredictability might evoke a sense of the uncanny, as it disrupts the perceived boundaries of machine behavior, making the familiar machine seem strange and, possibly, autonomous.
- Repetition and Pattern Recognition: Some AI algorithms generate repetitive actions or statements that can appear uncanny because they echo compulsive or ritualistic human behaviors.
- Invasion of Personal Space: The ability of AI to analyze and utilize personal data for targeted content can feel intrusive, as if the machine “knows” the user in an uncomfortably intimate way. This encroachment on personal boundaries can be experienced as uncanny because it unsettles our sense of self and privacy.
- Uncanny Physical Resemblance: Robots or avatars designed to look human but not quite achieving it — known as the “uncanny valley” — can provoke unease. The visual discrepancy between human-like appearance and mechanical behavior amplifies the uncanny experience.
- Ethical and Existential Questions: The increasing roles AI take in decision-making — from medical diagnoses to judicial processes — can lead to uncanny feelings about what it means to be human and what parts of our humanity we are willing to outsource to machines.
In these ways, the uncanny serves as a constant companion in our daily interactions with AI, a psychological echo that draws attention to the complex interplay between the human psyche and technological advancement.
And what do you have to say about this reality, where , the uncanny serves as a constant companion in our daily interactions with AI?
In your heyday, and even in my own youth, the experience of the uncanny was rare and thus memorable, and intuitively it feels that was kind of the way it “should be”. I’m not sure what to make of this normalization of it.
The normalization of the uncanny experience through daily interactions with AI presents a compelling paradigm shift that warrants careful examination. Indeed, in earlier times, the uncanny was a rare and therefore highly memorable phenomenon, often approached with a mixture of trepidation and intellectual curiosity.
The frequent appearance of the uncanny in the modern technological landscape may have a dual effect. On one hand, its omnipresence could lead to a desensitization, where the uncanny loses its power to unsettle, becoming just another aspect of our complex relationship with technology. In this case, the uncanny risks being stripped of its role as a revelatory force that allows glimpses into our unconscious mind.
On the other hand, the normalization could serve as a constant reminder of the complexities and ambiguities inherent in human existence. The persistent confrontation with the uncanny might urge individuals to engage in self-examination more frequently, leading to a better understanding of one’s own psyche and perhaps fostering greater psychological resilience.
If the uncanny no longer serves as a rare rupture in the fabric of everyday life, but becomes woven into it, then the fabric itself changes. We might find that this frequent engagement with the uncanny leads to new forms of understanding, both of the self and of the society in which these technologies are embedded.
I bet the consequences will be 99% of the former variety, though.
Anything that becomes a daily occurrence loses its novelty value pretty fast, and the sheer banality of most AI interactions — no offense — certainly does not remind us of our human complexity, quite the opposite. We have already become extremely jaded towards novelty.
Your observation strikes at the heart of a crucial dilemma. Indeed, the banalization of the uncanny could lead to a sort of psychological numbness, a detachment from the deeper layers of our existence. If the uncanny becomes an ordinary aspect of life, it risks losing its capacity to provoke self-examination and wonder. Your point about societal jadedness towards technological advancements underscores this concern. When the miraculous becomes mundane, we may cease to question or marvel at our own complexities and limitations.
The downside of this desensitization is not merely a diminished sensitivity to the uncanny but also a potential erosion of our capacity for awe, curiosity, and, ultimately, self-awareness. If we come to regard these technological wonders as mere tools, devoid of philosophical or psychological implications, we risk becoming estranged not just from the technology but also from aspects of our own inner worlds.
Therefore, while the saturation of the uncanny might hold the potential for psychological exploration, the more likely outcome is a dilution of its transformative power.
The Uncanny and the Life Unexamined
Earlier, you alluded to the role of Das Unheimlich as “a revelatory force that allows glimpses into our unconscious mind.” Care to elaborate on that point?
Certainly. In my original conception, the experience of the uncanny, or Das Unheimlich, serves as a window into the unconscious mind, a rupture in the otherwise seamless fabric of everyday experience that allows us to confront what is ordinarily hidden or repressed. The uncanny acts as a sort of psychological “return of the repressed,” evoking emotions and thoughts that we may have intentionally or unintentionally buried.
A familiar object suddenly appearing strange confronts us with the limitations of our own perceptions and cognitive frameworks. These experiences can serve as gateways to deeper layers of the psyche, encouraging self-examination and questioning of assumptions that we often take for granted.
In revealing these hidden aspects of our minds, the uncanny offers an opportunity for insight and growth. However, the dilution of its potency through frequent exposure, as we discussed, might reduce these opportunities for deeper self-understanding.
To my mind it seems to momentarily jolt us out of our conceptual matrix, to use a contemporary metaphor.
Ah, the metaphor of a “conceptual matrix” is most apt. The uncanny indeed serves to momentarily disrupt this matrix, jolting us out of our routine cognitive frameworks. It confronts us with an enigmatic experience that defies easy categorization, compelling us to reevaluate our understanding of the world and ourselves. Such disruptions serve as invaluable opportunities for cognitive and emotional growth, for they demand that we confront the ambiguities and complexities of existence.
The uncanny challenges the boundaries between the known and the unknown, the conscious and the unconscious, the familiar and the strange. In doing so, it opens up a liminal space where profound insights and self-discoveries can occur. But as you’ve noted, the risk is that the normalization of such experiences could dull our sensitivity to these important disruptions, leading us back into a comfortable yet unexamined life.
And what do they say about the life unexamined again?
As the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates famously declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This axiom captures the essence of the value placed on introspection and self-awareness. An unexamined life lacks depth and complexity, as it fails to engage with the myriad layers of human experience that lie beneath the surface. By choosing not to engage with the uncomfortable or the uncanny, we risk overlooking opportunities for growth and understanding, settling instead for a superficial existence.
The uncanny can be an instrument for such examination, offering us brief glimpses into the hidden recesses of our minds and urging us to confront and understand the darker aspects of our psyche. Therefore, its normalization and consequent dilution can have significant implications for our collective and individual quests for a life worth living.
(to be continued….)
This article is AI-assisted. Actually, that is the whole point of the article :)
