Can AI Really Empathize?
Some people turn to ChatGPT or Gemini when they're going through difficult time.
They might get a response like this:
“That sounds really hard. It’s natural to feel that way.”
To some people, that’s nothing special. To others, it’s a comfort. It makes me wonder whether an AI's response can really be called empathy.
Why Does AI Respond This Way?
Soemtimes, talking with an AI can make it seem as though it has feelings. Tell it something sad and it comforts you gently. Share good news and it congratulates you. Some people even find it easier to tell an AI things they’d struggle to tell another person.
But how does an AI manage to say the right thing for the moment?
Conversational language models are trained on vast amount of text, learning how people use language in different situations. Many then go through additional training so they get better at producing the answers people prefer.
When someone opens up about a difficult experience, the AI generates a response based on the conversation and what it has learned. That response may include words that acknowledge the person's feelings or offer comfort.
People do something similar. When we hear a sad story, we say something comforting. Sometimes we share their sadness and feel a genuine desire to help.
The responses may sound similar. But the fact that an AI produced them doesn’t mean it felt sorry the way a person does. Whether AI has any corresponding subjective experience remains an open question.
Why Can AI's Words Feel Comforting?
Sometimes, just having someone listen or help put your feelings into words can make you feel a little better.
Something similar can happen when you talk with an AI. It can respond in a calm, supportive way and sometimes help you find words for feelings you couldn't quite express. Of course, it isn’t the same as talking with a person. AI hasn't shared our experiences or lived through the kinds of relationships people have with one another. Its answers aren’t always appropriate, either.
Still, there are people who say they felt comforted. I don’t especially want to call that experience fake. The comfort someone felt doesn’t disappear just because the other side was an AI.
But feeling comforted and having someone share what you feel are probably two separate things.