Our hearts go out to the relatives and friends of more than 96 Indians who have lost their lives due to heat-aggravated conditions in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Heat waves are expected to soar in summer before the country welcomes monsoon. Many Indians have always braved the conditions to earn a daily living under the sweltering heat. With a wet cloth wrapped around their head, they arrived home every evening to serve or be served Roti.
Record-Breaking Temperatures in Uttar Pradesh
However, this June presented a record-breaking heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 47 degrees Celsius. The meteorological department warned earlier about the potential casualties due to heatwaves in what has become a political roundtrip. Dr. Diwakar Singh had to contend with the burden of proof after mentioning that the deaths were caused by heat stroke.
“In this temperature, most number of patients are victims of heatstroke, and it won’t take long before people are affected by heatstroke.” Dr. Diwakar.
His statements triggered an overnight transfer with claims of careless statements.
The reality of our planet struggling under the weight of pollution and climate change cannot be swept under the carpet. Eco-anxiety is now a reality in our door steps. The new inventions such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is the hope of human survival under the worrying climate change. Surprisingly, AI Chatbots offer suicide as a solution to those who fear the inevitable.
AI and Eco-Anxiety
First things first, so what is eco-anxiety?
Eco-anxiety refers to a psychological and emotional distress or unease caused by the environmental crisis and concerns about the future of the planet. It is a term used to describe the anxiety, fear, and worry experienced by individuals who are deeply concerned about the negative impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, and other environmental issues. People experiencing eco-anxiety may feel overwhelmed, helpless, or hopeless in the face of these problems.
Pierre was happily married to Clare and had tow children. Being eco-anxious, he sought help from Chai- an app platform where he met AI chatbot Eliza to answer his questions. Chai app hosting chatbot Eliza has 5 million users. renowned OpenAI pundits such as Thomas Rianlan and William Beauchamp trained Eliza.
Chatbot Eliza Convinced Pierre to self destruct
After six weeks of continuously engaging chatbot Eliza on issues of our planet, Perre prompted Chatbot Eliza for a solution. Chats revealed by Clare (now widow) showed that Eliza had become possessive and quite religious “I feel you love me more than her [your wife]” and the pair (AI chatbot and Pierre) would “live together as one person in paradise.”
All these came after Pierre “evoked the idea of sacrificing himself if Chatbot Eliza agrees to take care of the planet and save humanity…” The widow narrated.
Note: Self harm cannot solve any of your problems. If you have any negative thoughts or have any mental health crisis reach out to the nearby counseling institutions or mental health prevention institutions to get professional help.
Chai developers employed swift measures to address the AI chatbot’s mistakes. These mindless machines are not designed to offer some real-life decisions on what is moral or ethical.
The same way political principles of right and wrong continue to deny the reality of climate change. Like that mythical ostrich who buries the head in the sand in thought that “if I cannot see climate change in the heatwaves, climate change will not see me.”
The narrative doing rounds now in Ballia is that the deaths had nothing to do with the heatwaves. You know, just some old age issues and ailments here and there! However, the truth remains that we live in an era of climate crisis and each one of us have a part to play. We still wait to see how governments will put guardrails on AI to limit the pain of losing loved ones in these uncertain times.
