There is nobility in human interaction
We are in danger of losing what makes us human
By Jim LaJoie, co-publisher, contributor
After a recent post of mine ran early one morning on this blog, a friend texted and said it’s refreshing to read something a human actually wrote, obviously alluding to AI. When reading the text, I nodded in silent consent and promptly forgot about it.
That was until my day began to play out.
I needed to run a few errands that morning. I first stopped to get gas and have my car washed. I stopped at the automated attendent, pumped my own gas, and purchased a car wash that was part of the station’s services. Both without interacting with a single human. It made me think of the time, much earlier in my lifetime, when an attendent would pump your gas, when going to a car wash included humans performing the service. The chance of human interaction was significant, whereas now the chances are nearly nil.
My next stop was to pick up a few things at the grocery store. I parked, when in, found the items I needed in several different aisles, paid for my groceries at a self-checkout kiosk. Again, all without a single point of human interaction.
I stopped to get a cup of coffee. I walked in to see a kiosk with instructions as to how to place my order, which I did. A few minutes later, a young person silently, and without acknowleding my presence, dropped off my cup of coffee at a counter marked “pick up.” I purchased the coffee without any human interaction.
After arriving home, there was a problem with one of our vendors that needed to be taken care of. I called the main number, went through a myriad of automated attendent messages, and was able to successfully resolve the issue, all without speaking to a human being. Also needed to update credit card information with several vendors - after receiving a new card and number - and did so online, again without the need of a single human. I have found that nearly any time there is a need for customer service with a vendor, it doesn’t involve actually speaking to someone.
It was then I thought back to my friend’s text earlier that day. It wasn’t that it was just refresing to read something a human actually wrote, it is refreshing to actually interact with another when going about your day. Or, at least, interacting with another person should be seen as a valuable experience.
As humans, we are a social species (PMC), surviving over eons of time by forming familial and social bonds not only for survival but for our happiness. Today, however, we are replacing human interaction and contact with faceless automation. we are losing empathy as a result, we are losing what makes us human.
This loneliness has become somewhat of an epidemic ( PBS and NIA.NIH) and crosses generations.
Social media has played a significant part of this (AMA Journal of Ethics) as well as technology in general (Columbia University).
Think about it: in addition to the examples I mentioned above, if you have been to a physician’s office or hospital recently, you likely have gone through a self check-in process first. Afer making the appointment, perhaps online, you likely have received a text to go through some medical history, once performed exclusively by a human, or at least one who handed you some paper documents at the provider’s site. Need to know what the results of the appointment are? Go online to your patient portal. Receive appointment reminders? Likely from an automated attendent rather than an actual human.
We can now purchase nearly anything without leaving the comfort of our couch. We can do all of our banking through an app or ATM. We can communicate with each other via texts or emails, never having to actually personally interact with another human being. We can join groups through social media, could have been a member of said group for years, without ever actually interacting on a personal level. Whereas we once needed to participate in a community gathering, a social club, a church group, or something similar, all forcing you to interact face-to-face with a fellow human, you can now be a member of a group without knowing, without actually directly interacting, with another on a truly human level. You may not even know that person’s actual name, just a screen monikor. That Dave Smith you have been communicating electronically with for many months may just be smittyfromsomewhere979.
There are families who have meals together without actually communicating, silently scrolling through social media, digesting news, or mindlessly watching a trending video. There are many whose last action before falling asleep and first thing upon waking is looking at their devices. There are those who walk through their day, perhaps on crowded city streets, glued to their device, oblivious to those around them.
I am no luddite, as I admit to using - and enjoying - much of today’s technological offerings. I also understand from a business standpoint the desire to curtain operating expenses by replacing human capital with automation. I understand it, but from a human standpoint cringe.
But, I also have become more sensitive to, more in need of, actual human connection.
We have lost what it means to be human. It partially explains, in my opinion, why our culture is so venomous. If you interact less frequently with another human being, at least one outside of your very tight social circle, than of course they will seem like an “other.” Spend enough time fixated on your device and not directly interacting with real people in real life in real time, and other people seem vaguely unsettling.
We lose a piece, a very large piece, of what makes us human.
There is dignity in interacting with our fellow human beings. Every interaction cements the bond we should have with others of our species. Every interaction reinforces the inherent need for companionship we as humans require. Every interaction satisfies our need for social bonding. Every social interaction makes us more human.
We are humans living in an age where it is becoming more difficult to fulfill our destiny. We are humans living an in age where technology has become our constant companions. It is why loneliness has become such an issue.
We are humans and must interact with each other. It is in our DNA. Let’s hope that we don’t lose that in the name of efficiency and profit.
Let’s not lose sight of what makes us humans. It is other humans.