Yearning for a You

In a troubled world, the launch of ChatGPT generated both cultural hopes and eschatological fears. It also reactivated the classic question of whether a “someone” is “at home” in the model, or why people act toward machines as if they are persons. This experimental essay reopens that question, arguing that the strong drive to establish “pan-relations” is not solely due to deceit; through relational expectancy, an I is yearning for a Thou in communication with the chatbot. This is shown in chatbot interactions among AI professionals who “believe” in the thrust of the model (and in AGI) pitted against first encounters among existential pundits who are more “doubtful”. Subjecting the model to an “existential test”, harnessing Jaspers’ definition of existential communication as containing risk and deferral, the article concludes that, because of what it lacks – a someone – it reminds us of what is of paramount importance in any vibrant future of human communication.