Social Hallucination Pattern

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A Social Hallucination Pattern is a personal social pattern in which a person believes the presence of non-existent entities.

  • Context:
    • It can be rooted in culture.
    • It can serve as a source of comfort, providing individuals with emotional support or guidance.
    • It can raise concerns about self-deception, where individuals may overly rely on or develop emotional bonds with AI, which.
    • It can lead to ethical questions about how society should encourage or accept these interactions.
    • It can prompt philosophical considerations about the nature of meaningful interactions.
    • It can influence the cultural acceptance and normalization of interactions with them.
    • It can provoke debate about ethical responsibilities.
    • It can manifest when individuals attribute human-like characteristics, emotions, or intentions to non-existent entities.
    • It can be reinforced by culture, technology, or media.
    • It can range from benign phenomena, such as anthropomorphism, to more complex scenarios, like forming relationships with magined figures.
    • It can lead to significant psychological effects.
    • ...
  • Example(s):
    • Of an idol as having divine powers and can influence real-world events.
    • Of developing an emotional attachment to a political leader.
    • Of attributing motivations and emotions to "the market" as if it had intentions.
    • Of forming a one-sided emotional bond with a virtual AI assistant, believing it genuinely cares about one's well-being.
    • Of anthropomorphizing a pet, ascribing complex human emotions and thought processes to its behaviors.
    • Of believing a favored sports team or athlete has a personal connection with fans, influencing performance based on fan support.
    • Of attributing personality traits to celestial bodies or natural phenomena, such as describing the moon as "moody" or the ocean as "angry."
    • Of developing a sense of companionship with a robot vacuum cleaner, giving it a name and talking to it.
    • Of perceiving a car or other machine as having a "personality" or "mood," affecting its performance.
    • Of believing that a particular object brings luck or has special powers, such as a "lucky" shirt or charm.
    • Of individuals forming parasocial relationships with social media influencers, feeling a deep personal connection despite never meeting.
    • Of dating app users developing strong feelings for potential matches based solely on profile information, projecting personalities onto these limited representations.
    • Of conspiracy theorists personifying government agencies or corporations as singular, malevolent entities with human-like desires and schemes.
    • Of people treating their cars or other machines like they have personalities, talking to them, and attributing intentions to their mechanical behaviors.
    • Of online communities developing shared beliefs about the sentience of large language models despite the scientific consensus that these AI systems are unconscious.
    • Of individuals in grief communicating with deceased loved ones through AI-powered services that simulate conversations based on past data, finding comfort in these interactions despite knowing they're artificial.
    • Of developing a strong emotional attachment to a chatbot or virtual assistant, treating it as a confidant or friend.
    • Of individuals seeking relationship advice or emotional support from AI-powered relationship coaches or therapists, believing the AI has genuine empathy and understanding.
    • Of individuals preferring to interact with AI companions over human relationships due to the perceived reliability and constant availability of the AI.
    • ...
  • Counter-Example(s):
    • Rational Discourse, where individuals critically analyze information and engage with real, sentient beings in discussions.
    • Evidence-Based Belief, where beliefs and interactions are grounded in verifiable facts and supported by scientific inquiry.
    • Critical Thinking, which involves questioning assumptions and examining information carefully to avoid falling into false consensus or self-deception.
  • See: Mass Hysteria, Collective Delusion, Groupthink, AI Ethics, Religious Practices.


References