How are you going to blame a computer? And how would you blame the programmer or company that owns the AI program? This sounds just a little bit silly to me. People always looking to blame someone... but usually the wrong someone.
I'd say a bigger blame would be people close to the person... not saying anyone close should be blamed, but they have more influence than an AI... or how about blaming society? I think you could make a much stronger case against society in general and governments that require things that depress people, forbid things that might help them, and punish you for being frustrated and committing suicide.
But blaming an AI chatbot?
This.
It's not fashionable to blame society as a whole, but it is
the tough pill to swallow. Society does not educate nor attend to its members properly. Some folks commit suicide? Yes, we should put at least some blame on the people right next to them. It's neither neat nor a polite answer, but those around are responsible for us. We find ways to never look this truth in the eye, so we never get better at dealing with it. We never really question the structures, incentives, systems, conventions, rituals, norms, etc. We never put it under the microscope and consider the possibility that this is all happening because we just suck as a species. That our culture is designed to push its weakest members even further out the fringes.
Your child spends a great deal of his time talking to a machine? Ever ask why he chose to talk to a machine instead of you? What kind of environment have you fostered for this to be the outcome? Why would he entrust his most sensitive thoughts to a machine over you? Do you think it's normal for someone struggling to run to a computer instead of a human for conversation? That's on you. But we're not ready for this conversation.
There is much blame to be thrown around, and we don't do it quite enough if you ask me. Our inability to foster trust amongst those we deem closest to us, those we proclaim to love. Our presumptions of what is right, good, and proper, and the arrogance and bullheadedness that comes with it. The stigma and social isolation towards those who deviate even slightly from the norm. The shallow regurgitations of ordinary folk, and the pressure they put upon conformity. We talk, but never communicate, passing words around like robots. Kind words, empty words. No nuance, no depth, no genuine attempt at understanding, just the presumption of having understood. I could go on.
"I'm feeling suicidal."
This should be a statement easy to admit out loud. A call for help, for attention, to be attended to, as we would a broken arm or scraped knee. Yet it is anything but. Many of us here can list numerous reasons why it is so difficult., why we choose to keep to ourselves or find alternative means to express ourselves. Although some reasons would point to our own inability, our own inadequacies, lots more would point to factors external to us.
The world has failed us. At some point, if we take our work seriously, if we are honest and careful with ourselves, it becomes clear that some fault should be put externally as to earn us the right to say "I blame you".
