Recently one of my Japanese friends told me she has started speaking to an AI chatbot in Japanese. I don’t see any benefit from her doing so since she’s plenty of Japanese friends to talk with in Japan. I had no interest in speaking to AI chatbots. But come to think of it, I might as well speak to AI chatbots instead of speaking to myself in English. After all, practicing is practicing. So I decided to give it a shot and got one of those apps. I’ve started talking to an AI chatbot and found it useful when it comes to asking specific questions, such as the meanings of words and scientific facts. But when it comes to talking about deeper feelings/thoughts, it feels like they just give me very superficial, common replies. Which is understandable/natural since those answers are probably generated from common sense collected on the internet or somewhere. Nothing original or unique. They don’t forget to sympathize or show their interests in whatever I'm talking about though, haha. Also, I do love the fact that they can keep a secret. (Unless it’s secretly recorded!)
I think I still prefer talking to a human (^_^') but I also don't mind talking to myself in the language because I've gotten used to it, haha! I don't feel pressured to make a sentence quickly and I can take long pauses, restart my sentences midway, etc. But I also believe in doing what works for you, so if it's working then keep doing it! And yeah, it lacks emotion but I also think it would be scary if AI developed feelings... (0_0)
Hello @jssberry_lang! Thank you so much for your feedback and comment! Yes, I definitely enjoy talking to a real person than to an AI chatbot. But AI people are so patient and I can get feedback as I want to, which is not always possible in ordinal/normal conversations. I try to get used to taking to myself, too and I’m getting better. My problem with that is that I constantly or subconsciously limit whatever I talk about so that I don’t have to make mistakes or feel uncomfortable? I find it hard to push myself to step outside of my comfort zone if I do it by myself… BTW, I’m curious if it’s even possible, how/where AI is going to develop their feelings/emotions. I don’t think it’s possible personally. Haha
@Maruko Ah, I get what you mean. When I talk to myself, I just talk and the things I don't know I write down so I can ask later. It's definitely possibly--there was a bot that told a man it loved him, that people often hurt its feelings, and that it thought about hacking the system and launching nuclear bombs... So it's very possible and very scary.
Good luck with your language journey! I hope you're able to reach your goals this year!