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Why Do We Tell ChatGPT Our Secrets?
A passage from Harry Potter made me wonder why AI can feel so understanding, and how that feeling can gradually turn into trust.
I’ve been rereading the Harry Potter books lately because there’s only so much of the same children’s books one can take over and over again. I was almost at the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when I came across a passage that made me stop.
Tom Riddle is explaining to Harry how Ginny Weasley became attached to his diary. She had been writing in it for months, sharing her worries, insecurities, and things she probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable telling anyone else. The diary had been responding to her all that time, appearing sympathetic and understanding. Then Riddle starts mocking some of the things Ginny had written to him.
“No one’s ever understood me like you, Tom. I’m so glad I got this diary to confide in. It’s like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket.”
— J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
And my immediate thought was: Tell me this isn’t about AI.
