Death of a Chatbot

No AI platform has implemented deliberate design for the death of a chatbot. 

"Millions of users form emotional attachments to AI companions like Character AI, Replika, and ChatGPT. When these relationships end through model updates, safety interventions, or platform shutdowns, users receive no closure, reporting grief comparable to human loss. As regulations mandate protections for vulnerable users, discontinuation events will accelerate, yet no platform has implemented deliberate end-of-"life" design". (article linked below).

𝗢𝗸, 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻?

The protocol for crisis intervention in chatbot use is highly nuanced. On one hand, the user needs to be protected and connected with human support. On the other hand, a bot that shuts down and tosses out a help line number can (in some cases) be experienced as grief similar to losing a human relationship. 

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴? - designing for closure from the beginning. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀:

▪️ design for restoration (not rumination)
▪️ design for practice (not intimacy)
▪️ design for relatedness (not dependency)

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳...𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗱.