The human part

AI can help us communicate in so many ways.

It can help us write a message, find the right words, translate a conversation or even suggest what we might say. There is something useful about having that kind of help.

I’m curious about what happens to human connection when technology can increasingly help us with the things we once worked out between ourselves.

When we have help finding the words

Sometimes we don't know what to say. We might be writing to someone we care about, trying to explain how we feel or wanting to respond to something difficult. AI can help us find the words.

Yet finding our own words can also be part of connecting with someone. We might stumble. We might say something imperfectly. We might take a while to work out what we really mean.

Perhaps that process matters too.

When we don't have to work it out together

Connection isn't always about saying the perfect thing.

Sometimes it's in the pauses, the awkward moments, the misunderstandings and the effort it takes to understand each other. We might have to listen carefully. Ask another question. Explain ourselves differently. Notice someone's expression or tone.

These things take our attention.

AI can make communication easier, but it cannot experience the moment with us.

Where our attention goes

We can be with someone and still have part of our attention somewhere else. We might be thinking about what to say, checking our phone, asking AI for help or wondering how a conversation could have gone differently. Technology gives us more places to turn our attention.

Perhaps the question is whether we notice when our attention has drifted away from the person who is actually there.

Staying with each other

We don't need to stop using AI to stay connected.

We can use it to help us communicate, understand something or find a way into a difficult conversation.

Perhaps we can also leave some things for ourselves.

We might listen without preparing our response. Let someone find their own words. Sit with a little uncertainty. Have a conversation that doesn't go exactly as planned.

Sometimes connection needs our attention more than it needs the right words.

What we give each other

AI may become increasingly involved in how we communicate.

Perhaps that makes our own attention even more important.

When we are with another person, there is something happening that cannot be reduced to an answer, a suggestion or the perfect response. There is simply another person there.

I wonder what you might notice the next time you're talking with someone, and where your attention is while you're together.