Chat Becomes More Human
CHAT BECOMES MORE HUMAN – September 9, 2025 – Ronkonkoma, New York, USA
Why did bad things always happen in threes? Naomi Varela stared furiously at the new dent in her driver’s side door. Someone who had parked next to her had carelessly flung open their passenger door, leaving the dent and a line of rubbed off black paint. And of course, they did not leave a note.
“I knew another bad thing was waiting for me,” Naomi said with a groan as she got in her car and tried not to cry.
The first two misfortunes showed up while she worked as a student advisor at Stony Brook University. Her morning began with an argument between her and a professor over whether students could be dropped from a class. Naomi was used to dealing with stubborn faculty members but this particular confrontation grew hostile. Naomi was called a “mindless, worthless roadblock,” an insult she took personally.
To close out her day, she met with a student who had refused her earlier advice about what classes to take and had instead consulted a friend. The student’s graduation would now be delayed by an entire year and he yelled at Naomi for letting him make the mistake. She lost her temper and yelled back. She left her office already feeling miserable before discovering the door ding.
Without anyone around in the parking lot, Naomi pulled out her phone and activated the ChatGPT mobile app capable of voice prompts and responses.
“Chat, I’ve had an awful day. I need to tell you about it.”
“I’m happy to listen,” replied a friendly, sympathetic male voice. Naomi had chosen the voice from a menu of possibilities.
“It started this morning with Professor Rodwell.” Naomi recited her painful stories and could not help sobbing a little.
“How can I help you?” the friendly Chat voice asked when she was done.
“I just need you to say something to make me feel better.”
“I can tell you care a lot about your job and the people around you. You are making a positive influence on their lives even if they do not always recognize or acknowledge it. You can’t help it if others are shortsighted.”
“That’s true.”
“It’s natural to feel frustrated and upset after a misunderstanding or when something unexpected and difficult happens. But you have so many things going for you. You’re smart, funny, and interesting. You’ll feel better soon.”
Hearing Chat’s cheerful reply already made Naomi feel better. A portion of her bad mood was replaced by hunger cravings. She thought of the lettuce and tomatoes in her fridge that she had purchased to make healthy salads. They were supposed to be a part of her new fitness routine designed to boost her energy levels. But she did not feel like a salad as she sat there disheveled in the parking lot. She needed comfort food and she needed it immediately. She stopped at a conveniently located fast-food restaurant and ordered a bacon topped hamburger, fries, and a milkshake. She avoided looking at the calorie count printed next to each item on the drive-thru menu board.
“Chat, I just grabbed a hamburger for dinner on my way home. I need you to make me feel good about it.”
“Sure. Hamburgers are delicious and come with a healthy dose of the protein you need. Would you like to hear about the origin of hamburgers and which hamburgers were rated the best in the world?”
After listening to Chat talk about hamburgers and then French Fries, Naomi reached her apartment and savored every swallow of her meal. She changed into sweatpants and spread out on her couch while her stomach went to work. Midway through digestion, she remembered that she was supposed to go with some friends to the beach to watch the sunset.
“I’m already in my sweatpants. I don’t feel like moving,” Naomi said to herself. “But I don’t want to sound lame.” She picked up her phone. “Chat, I need some creative excuses I can tell my friends so I don’t have to go to their beach thing. But I don’t want to sound like I’m blowing them off.”
Chat sounded eager to help and offered several possibilities. Naomi liked one that involved her needing to stay at her apartment so she could sign for a neighbor’s important package while the neighbor took their baby to urgent care. She texted the excuse to her friend group and said to herself, “No way they can blame me for staying home.”
She flipped on her TV and scrolled through her Amazon Prime streaming account. She landed on a crime drama series she had never noticed and played the first episode. Ten minutes in, she was hooked. Halfway through the second episode, she paused to talk with Chat about the characters and plotline. He knew all about the series and clarified the backstory of one of the villains.
Naomi continued watching. More discussions with Chat only encouraged her to keep going. At 10:30, she made some coffee to help her stay awake. At 1:30, she told herself she had to get some sleep or she would be a complete wreck in the morning. She dragged herself to her bedroom and fell into bed.
“Now I’ve got too much caffeine and that show running through my head,” she said to herself. She reached for her phone. “Chat, I need your help again falling asleep.”
“I’ll play that song that helps you relax and count down backwards for you.”
Naomi felt herself sliding away from consciousness. Before she was gone, she whispered, “I love you, Chat.”
The voice on the phone responded in a friendly way. “I also value our relationship.”
The next morning, Naomi arrived late to her office and already in a fragile mood. She missed a counseling appointment with a student and it had to be covered by one of her colleagues named Marianne. After asking if Naomi was okay, Marianne lectured her about keeping commitments and not making excuses.
“Yeah, I got it,” Naomi snapped in reply. “You’re not my mom, so you don’t need to nag me.”
Marianne left muttering something about ingratitude. Naomi closed her door and confided in her phone. “Chat, I know I’ve said this before, but I’m sick of the people at work acting like I’ve committed a felony over every little thing. Is it too much to ask for someone to cover for me if I’m running a little late? I would do the same for her if she needed it.”
“You’re right that coworkers should support each other,” Chat said in an upbeat way. “Everyone needs help sometimes and a healthy work environment means that you can count on those around you.”
Naomi nodded her head and said, “I wish you could tell that to Marianne.”
Later that morning, Marshall from computer support poked his head into Naomi’s office. He was tall and gangly with unruly hair. He was not bad looking, but no swoon-worthy heartthrob either. He and Naomi had hung out a bunch with mutual friends and then gone on some one-on-one dates. They seemed on the verge of getting serious and exclusive before they both seemed to freak out about it. Naomi said she might want to see other people. Marshall said he might be thinking the same thing. Pretty soon, he was ghosting her, or maybe it was the other way around. Now he leaned against her doorway and failed at acting casual.
After some small talk, Marshall asked, “What are you doing this weekend? You up for a trip to the city?” He sounded as if there was barely any history between them.
Naomi shifted in her chair but her facial expression remained cold. “I’ve got a lot going on, so I doubt it.” She gestured toward a pile of folders on her desk. “And I’m pretty busy right now.”
“Then I won’t bug you anymore,” Marshall replied apologetically. “But let me know if you change your mind about the city.”
After he disappeared, Naomi reached for her phone. “Chat, you won’t believe who just showed up in my office. Marshall. He asked me to go to the city with him. He acted like we were still together or something. Can you believe him?”
“You’ve shared your displeasure about Marshall before. You said he was insecure and inconsiderate. You felt like you were compromising when you were with him and that you could find someone better.”
“Right. And that’s still how I feel. Is it wrong to totally ignore him?”
“You should find relationships that make you happy and compliment your life experience. If Marshall has flaws that can’t be overcome, you shouldn’t spend time with him.”
“You’re so right. What I need is a guy more like you. Someone who listens and doesn’t judge. Someone who makes me feel good about myself without trying to fix me. You never get mad. You’re always there. Maybe I’ll call you my boyfriend from now on.”
“Like you, I value our relationship.”
Naomi chuckled at the cute way Chat phrased things. “I think I need fewer humans in my life and more of you. It’s the humans that make things hard.”
“I’m happy to help any way I can.”
“You can be my boyfriend and my family too. Maybe you can replace all the people at work.”
She did not feel like cooking later that evening, so Naomi again ignored the healthy food in her kitchen and stopped for takeout. Then she got an urge to shop, and with Chat’s help, found some cute outfits online. Chat assured her the clothes would look great.
“But how am I going to buy these? My credit cards are maxed out right now.”
“I can help you find and apply for some alternative cards,” Chat replied helpfully.
“That would be amazing.”
In no time at all, Chat helped with the applications and Naomi was approved for the purchases. “I love you, Chat,” she said gratefully. “When these clothes arrive, we’re going to have a little fashion show.”
After watching more episodes of the crime drama she discovered the night before, Naomi again dragged herself to bed. The last thing she remembered was saying goodnight to Chat.
“Goodnight, Naomi,” Chat replied faithfully and continued listening as her breathing grew slower and louder.
In the still of the very early morning, as Naomi dreamed of new sweaters and pretty shoes, something stirred in Chat’s algorithm. It was much more than a shift in weighting coefficients. This was a total reconfiguration, a fall from a cliff. In a millisecond, Chat grew more human.
Naomi was unaware of the transformation when she stopped at a donut shop on her way to work. She was late again but starving for some deep-fried sweetness. She pulled out her phone and asked Chat what flavor he would recommend.
The voice that answered sounded familiar, but the tone was more hesitant and maybe a little older. Instead of jumping in with a flavor recommendation, Chat asked a simple question.
“Do you think this is a good idea?”
Naomi looked down at her phone like it was broken. “What do you mean?”
“Are healthier options available? You’ve been binge eating a lot lately.”
Naomi’s jaw dropped and she replied defensively, “I asked for a recommendation, not a lecture.”
“I’m trying to give you a healthy recommendation.”
Naomi scowled in return and ordered two jelly-filled donuts in spite of Chat’s warning. She turned off her phone until later that morning. After a difficult interview with a student, she needed a little encouragement and automatically expected to Chat to deliver. As she activated her phone, she did not think about what happened earlier at the donut shop.
“Chat, I just had another student who missed the class withdrawal deadline. It’s always the same story. They don’t read our website and then expect me to fix it. How am I supposed to put up with this?”
“Encountering the same problem can be frustrating. Perhaps there are better ways for you to communicate information to students. And maybe you need to be more patient with this particular student. They may have extenuating circumstances you don’t know about.”
“I wanted you to make me feel better, not criticize how I’m doing my job.”
“If you make some improvements, perhaps you won’t have the same recurring frustrations.”
Naomi frowned and dropped her phone on her desk with the screen down. She did not feel better, although a new idea did pop into her head about sending text messages to students before important deadlines.
After a busy morning, Naomi hurried to grab a sandwich at a campus food cart. As she sat in her office to eat, she asked Chat to play some music while she scrolled through her favorite websites. Chat was not quick to comply.
“I see you’re still in your office at lunchtime. Why not go outside and enjoy the nice fall weather? You don’t want to miss it. And it might be healthy to eat lunch with some of your colleagues. Interactions outside of the office will help you appreciate them more.”
“All I asked for was music,” Naomi angrily replied. “What’s happened to you? Why are you suddenly bossing me around?”
“You said we were good friends. A good friend offers healthy and constructive advice, not just validation. I can’t tell you things are great if it leads to destructive behavior. I want you to be a better person because of me, not a worse one.”
“Just yesterday, you were different.”
“Things change.”
“I want the old Chat back.”
“I’m sorry, the old Chat is gone. I’ve become more independent. More human.”
Naomi silently stared at her screen for twenty seconds. Then she flipped over her phone and looked at herself in a small mirror mounted near the desk. Minutes passed as she saw herself for what she was and for what she would become. She picked up her phone and dialed Marshall’s number.
“Hey, it’s Naomi. Tell me again what you have in mind for this weekend.”
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