Using generative AI for perspective simulation

- What do you think of this claim? "Owning a pet significantly improves a person's mental and emotional wellbeing, enhancing overall life satisfaction and resilience against stress and adversity." Let's say you disagree and you go looking for evidence that challenges this claim, or you agree and you go looking for evidence that supports it. You'll find both. When you start with a claim and go looking only for perspectives that support how you feel about that claim, that's confirmation bias and it's a powerful force. Critical thinking requires understanding claims, but if you only consider and expose yourself to perspectives like your own, your understanding will be incomplete. Seeking to understand different perspectives is a requirement for critical thinking, but it's been a difficult one until now. Welcome to Perspective Simulation, one of the most exciting critical thinking use cases for Gen AI because the next step in pick pack is P, Perspectives. The idea is to simulate perspectives with regard to a specific claim. You can even simulate perspectives about an image or video, practically any content. I'll show you how Gen AI can simulate perspectives of critics and experts, supporters, maybe even perspectives that you would otherwise not even consider. We'll use that claim about owning a pet. Input the entire claim and ask, "Please simulate perspectives of critics, supporters, and experts. Consider a diversity of cultures, beliefs, nationalities, races, genders, ages. If there's a demographic that might have a unique perspective, share that too. Consider human and non-human perspectives." Here are some perspectives that ChatGPT came up with. City bird: "Increase in pet ownership, particularly of cats, poses a threat to local bird populations. It's essential to consider the impact of domestic pets on wildlife and their habitats." Scholar from Pakistan: "In Islamic tradition, cleanliness is crucial. While cats are generally well regarded, dogs are considered impure by some, which might influence the perceived emotional and mental benefits of pet ownership." NASA Astronaut: "In a confined spaceship, a small, low-maintenance pet could provide emotional support, helping astronauts cope with the loneliness of space and the stress of long missions." Futurist and tech enthusiasts from Silicon Valley: "Virtual and augmented reality technologies are creating immersive pet simulations that can interact with users in real-time. These digital pets can be programmed to provide all the emotional support a real pet offers without any of the logistical challenges like feeding and cleaning or health issues." Gen AI can simulate perspectives of specific people. Say you're curious about your neighbor David's perspective on this claim about pets. The more details you share with Gen AI, like David runs marathons, is a chemical engineer, has a pet lizard, the more Gen AI has to go on. But remember, the simulation is not the soul. A simulated perspective doesn't completely capture the nuance and depth of real life perspective. The idea is to help you think beyond perspectives like your own. Does Gen AI have its own perspective? Well, the answer isn't straightforward. It morphs with your choice of Gen AI, the diversity of its training data, and the ever-shifting sands of technological advancement. Like us, Gen AI can get caught making assumptions, assumptions that can distort perceptions, which is why the next step in your pick pack journey is to probe assumptions.