GH’s Maurice Benard Asks: Will More AI Make Authenticity More Valuable?
The General Hospital star and trauma surgeon Dr. Jeremy Heffner discussed AI, emotion, and why humans may increasingly crave genuine contact.
General Hospital (GH) star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) and his guest, trauma surgeon Dr. Jeremy Heffner, got together on the State of Mind podcast on Sunday and, apart from chatting about being a doctor during COVID and the related stress, they also touched on artificial intelligence (AI).
Discussing AI and Mental Health
Maurice seemed keen to chat about whether a technical world might make people prefer real human contact as against what a chatbot can deliver.
Given his mental health advocacy, it only seemed natural that the ABC veteran actor would think about that. And he’s not the first person who ever wondered about how people use it as a mental health tool.
In his Instagram promo for the State of Mind episode, Maurice Benard asked, “Will more AI make authenticity more valuable?”
He also added, “Jeremy Heffner and Maurice … question whether a world optimized for more, faster, and cheaper will leave people craving something real: presence, emotion, and human contact.”
Artificial Intelligence & Emotion
During the State of Mind podcast, Maurice pointed out that one day “actors will be AI,” while at the same time laughing because AI “can’t show emotion though.”
Heffner felt that eventually, they would “figure it out.” He then went on to ask if using AI is “worth the cost.” He asked, “Like what is it that we think that we’re going to gain from it?”
Humans Need Humans
In his opinion, we are trying to “optimize the world,” and it might be cheap, but in the end it might also be “worthless.” Backing that up, he said that “I think that humans need human contact.”
General Hospital fans who tuned in and watched Sunday’s State of Mind didn’t hear Maurice Benard and Dr. Heffner saying that people should ditch using AI, and that added some balance to the discussion. But they agree that probably people will eventually tire of non-human interactions.
Heffner suggested that “I think people are going to turn to authenticity and they’re going to want authenticity.” That came after he discussed his own difficulties with mental health during the COVID years.
A Doomsday Approach?
Neither Maurice Benard nor Dr. Heffner talked in a way that suggested they were terrified of AI taking over or arguing that it shouldn’t be used.
Instead of a doomsday approach, they recognized that AI is a tool that delivers fast information efficiently. But for now, it can’t meet the emotional needs of people.
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence
The rise of AI has been phenomenal, and plenty of people now use it for a range of work tasks. But there are lots of people who use it to chat about their mental problems. Unfortunately, though, it seems as if exact statistics are not available.
Nature.com discussed the trend and said that “activities like emotional support, companionship, and therapy may be the single most popular use of AI.”
However, the article also admitted that figures are unreliable, ranging from only three to seventy percent. That’s a big gap in numbers. Still, many people do log on, type out their thoughts and then the reply arrives.
Human Interaction Is Still Important
The overall message on the podcast was that while AI can work very fast and are affordable, they don’t, or at least they can’t, actually replace humans.
Your thoughts? Join the discussion and then come back for more General Hospital cast news and updates.