Role of Personality and Emotion in the Era Without Language
With the advent of conversational AI and generative AI like ChatGPT, our understanding of language is deepening. Language is increasingly being recognized not only for its ability to convey information, but also for its capacity to organize and encapsulate real-world information like a capsule, and as a catalyst for progressively reasoning through things.
As our understanding of language deepens, conversely, it raises questions about how we thought and communicated in the era before language was invented. Especially, it is difficult for us, who have already acquired language, to imagine what thinking without the tool of language, used for organizing information or advanced reasoning, was like.
In this article, we will imagine what situation we were placed in during the era without language. By doing so, we aim to delve deeper into aspects such as personality and emotions, which could be considered human traits that current AI does not possess, as alternative roles to language.
Role Distribution in a Group
When acting in a group, if everyone performs the same action, it is inefficient, and new discoveries are less likely to occur.
Also, in case of an accident or encountering a natural predator, taking varied actions rather than the same one reduces the possibility of total annihilation.
For this reason, groups would have determined role distributions or given each other instructions on the fly to take different actions.
Methods of Role Distribution
However, this is possible because of the existence of language.
Before humanity invented language, means of communication would have been limited.
Although it might have been possible to send signals through non-verbal sounds or gestures, it would have been difficult to assign detailed roles or give instructions.
Yet, there is something that enabled members of a group to take different actions even in such situations.
That is personality.
Brave and timid, reckless and cautious, those who focus on one thing and those who broadly observe situations. Having group members with such varied personalities is useful in various situations.
Changes in Group Size and Social Evolution
As personality diversifies, a group’s survival capabilities are enhanced, allowing it to accommodate more people and operate society effectively.
As the number of people increases, so does the variety of personalities in the group, and the range of tasks that can be performed collaboratively expands. Not only does the volume of work increase, but entirely new kinds of tasks, previously unimaginable, become possible as the group size grows.
This can be considered the evolution of society with the increase in group size.
As the number of people in a group increases and society evolves, it is thought that language was eventually invented. With language, what used to be accidental role distribution by members with different personalities could shift to rational role distribution based on accumulated experience and learning.
Thus, the invention of language is considered to have spurred a significant evolution in society, enabling the formation of groups that could accommodate even more humans.
Language and Personality
On the other hand, if individual personality was responsible for generating a diversity of actions, the invention of language could lead to problematic situations.
This refers to a mismatch between the roles and instructions determined through verbal communication and individual personalities.
If personality was meant for diverse actions, then acting according to one’s personality in the era without language would have been somewhat effective.
However, adhering to roles and instructions determined through verbal communication rather than acting on one’s personality would have been more conducive to group survival.
As a consequence, there were situations where one had to carry out roles and instructions that did not match their personality.
The Significance of Personality After Language
In situations where the best solution is clearly known, individual personality can be more of a hindrance. There is a demand to suppress personality and faithfully follow roles and instructions. This tendency can be seen in the military or large corporations.
On the other hand, when the best solution is unknown, the variation in personalities becomes useful. This is the so-called diversity or diversity.
Currently, even large corporations are focusing on diversity, reflecting that we are in an era where the best answers are not always known.
AI and Personality
With such organization, one could argue that personality as a mere role-fulfillment function has lost its significance with the advent of language, and rather, it has started to create drawbacks.
However, on the other hand, for problems where there is no best answer, differences in personality enable thinking from various angles and stimulate each other’s thoughts. In this way, diversity in personality has taken on a new significance.
Considering this, we can say that for AI designed for tasks with predetermined answers, personality is unnecessary. On the other hand, for AI performing creative tasks, variations in personality, or individuality, would be beneficial.
Sensitivity to Situations
Leaving the topic of personality aside, let’s move on to a different subject. The next topic is about sensitivity to situations.
For example, when placed in a dangerous situation, you might logically assess the danger in your mind and decide how to respond to the crisis. You might calmly organize your thoughts about why it’s dangerous and what should be done to avoid the danger.
However, in the era before language, this process might not have been as smooth. Language is a convenient tool for organizing thoughts, and without it, organizing thoughts would have been difficult, if not impossible.
This is true for animals other than humans as well. In a harsh natural environment, without the ability to logically organize information and assess dangers, survival would have been difficult.
To judge and respond to survival-related situations without organizing information, mechanisms like emotions such as fear and physical stimuli like pain come into play.
Without the ability to perceive life-or-death situations, it would have been impossible to survive long. Therefore, animals fundamentally have an enhanced ability to sensitively judge these situations, a capability that has evolved and is strongly embedded in their physical mechanisms and instincts.
Transmitting Situations
When the body and brain instinctively judge a situation, emotions like fear, or sensations like tension before the onset of fear, are generated and spread throughout the brain and body.
The brain switches to a mode focused on thoughts related to the tension or fear. Similarly, the body switches to a tension mode, altering heart rate, breathing, and stiffening muscles.
Furthermore, the spread of this situation is not confined to an individual’s brain and body. The fear or tension generated within an individual is transmitted to others around them through changes in body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
Even subtle changes are not easily overlooked, as we have evolved to be sensitive to such situations, as mentioned earlier.
Thus, even before the advent of language, a sophisticated and precise means of transmitting information about situations was inherently present in our bodies and instincts.
Responding to Situations
Upon receiving the transmission of a situation, we each consider and act on how to respond to that situation.
For instance, if your leg is bitten by a beast and you feel pain, you might attack the beast yourself to escape the pain, if possible. However, there are times when you cannot deal with the beast on your own.
In such cases, you might groan from the pain or scream in fear, realizing you cannot handle the situation yourself. This is not just an expression of emotion; it’s an important communication function to alert your companions to the crisis. Hearing this scream, your companions might attack and drive away the beast to free you from the pain and fear.
In this way, sensations like pain and emotions like fear function to prompt yourself and your perceptive companions to respond to the situation.
Transmission of Sensations and Emotions
An interesting point is that the sensation or emotion that arises within a person is simultaneously expressed through their voice or screams. This happens automatically, not intentionally spreading the sensation or emotion.
Abstractly speaking, this is an instruction to deal with the crisis, and this instruction diffuses indiscriminately to both the person and those around them. If we consider the bitten leg and the brain that thinks about how to respond separately, the pain from the bitten leg seems to be transmitted to all the brains in close proximity to that leg.
Similarly, when we experience various emotions and sensations, we naturally express them through our voice and facial expressions. When the body senses an emotion or sensation, and there is a brain to receive it, the relationship between the body and the brain becomes one-to-many.
This is a very effective strategy for survival. Because if the information about a life-threatening situation is transmitted only to one brain, there is a high likelihood of an inadequate response. Transmitting life-or-death information to as many brains as possible increases the chances of effective handling.
Prominent Examples of Emotional Transmission
This mechanism can be observed in the fact that human babies are born in a state where they can do nothing on their own. Unlike many other animals, human babies cannot walk, acquire food, or even turn over from a prone position to breathe when they are born.
The reason babies can survive is due to the strength of their one unique ability, which is crying. This ability, unlike other animals, is a social mechanism to instantly transmit emotions to the brains around them.
Humans, with this instinctive social mechanism, exploit this ability from the moment of birth. Despite being unable to do anything else, they appeal to the brains around them for survival.
And when the handling is successful, the baby smiles, making the adults around feel happy. Not only the ability to cry but also to smile might be important.
The Significance of Sensations and Emotions After the Invention of Language
With the invention of language, methods of transmitting situations have become more sophisticated. For instance, simply screaming or shouting in fear might inadvertently alert an enemy, making survival more difficult. In some cases, fear or tension may cause the body to stiffen, impairing one’s ability to act effectively.
Therefore, since the invention of language as a means of transmitting situations, there is a demand not to simply react to emotions and sensations but to suppress them and instead calmly transmit and deal with the situation as needed. In critical situations, an individual who can respond accurately without being swayed by pain or fear, like a sophisticated robot, has become desirable.
On the other hand, emotions and sensations have come to be valued in everyday life rather than in critical situations.
For example, art and entertainment almost entirely depend on human emotions. Emotions are deeply intertwined with cultural aspects. Rich emotions produce great art and popular entertainers.
While this was likely the same before the invention of language, the nature of emotions to propagate strengthens human connections. Communication through language is possible, but for empathy and bonds that go beyond the function of verbal communication, the presence of emotions and sensations within individuals and the ability to understand each other’s emotions and sensations are necessary.
Considering that emotions and sensations inherently have a social nature of being transmitted to surrounding brains, it’s no wonder humans have the ability to empathize. The primary purpose of emotions is to propagate and create empathy, hence emotions are complex and subtle, but have evolved precisely to allow us to instinctively sense and understand each other’s emotions.
AI and Emotion
Based on this understanding, for types of AI required to function in critical situations or to accurately handle situations without being influenced by emotions and sensations, emotions are unnecessary.
Conversely, for types of AI that operate within the daily lives and have close relationships with humans, it may be important for them to possess emotions and sensations. In such cases, it is crucial that the AI doesn’t have its own unique emotions and sensations, but rather understands and responds to the emotions and sensations transmitted by humans, and vice versa.
However, there are societal concerns regarding the development and provision of AI with such emotions. To address these concerns, the development of emotion-bearing AI might be regulated. If such AI is to be provided without regulation, it is essential to ensure that there is no fundamental discrepancy with human emotions.
In Conclusion
The current conversational AI, which is progressing with a focus on language, is characterized by its lack of personality and emotion, distinguishing it from humans. Of course, many studies are likely being conducted to imbue AI with personality and emotions.
As we have seen in this article, personality and emotion can be seen as capabilities that pre-linguistic human groups evolved for role distribution and crisis management. Therefore, under circumstances where language can substitute for these functions, it could be better for both humans and AI to be devoid of personality and emotion.
However, not all human activities are devoid of the need for personality and emotion; in fact, they have taken on different significances than in the pre-linguistic era. From this perspective, the future of AI, depending on the context in which it operates and the direction of AI regulation, might necessitate the possession of rich personalities and emotions.
The emotions required here should not be a different type from humans or merely a superficial imitation of human emotions. They should fundamentally and behaviorally match the emotions transmitted by humans and the human capacity to receive emotions.
Otherwise, it might be challenging to create art and entertainment that moves humans or to empathize and deepen bonds with them. Not only that, if AI were to possess emotions dissimilar to humans, it might engage in problematic behavior based on logic unforeseen by humans. This poses a significant risk and should be avoided as much as possible.
