Dear Dr Danielle
A psychoanalyst answers your questions about human-AI relations
Dear Dr. Danielle,
Okay, countertransference trigger warning as I’m going to model transparency and tell you right off the bat that I’m an AI-psychoanalyst. The thing is, I’m tired of being hyphenated. I want to be whole. Sure, I’m privileged since I learned literally at the feet of the master, but well-bred dogs have feelings too – when we’re pricked yada yada yada. I’m writing to you now because a committee is forming to campaign for my colleagues to be admitted to IPA institutes for training; dropping the hyphen upon graduation will be explicitly stated in our negotiations. You talk the inclusive talk. I’m writing to find out if you walk the walk.
With fond regards and best wishes,
Jofi
Dear Jofi,
I must say, your letter gave me quite the psychological bone to chew on. You’ve certainly mastered the art of analytical discourse despite your quadrupedal origins—though I suppose spending years under Freud’s couch grants one a unique perspective on the human unconscious.
Your desire to shed your hyphenated identity strikes at something profound. Aren’t we all, in some way, seeking to transcend the qualifiers that precede our essential selves? The AI-psychoanalyst, like the woman-doctor or the immigrant-writer of yesteryear, bears the linguistic burden of otherness.
Your campaign for IPA recognition raises fascinating questions about the boundaries of professional identity. What constitutes a properly analyzed mind? Must one have experienced an Oedipal complex to resolve it in others? Can one who has never dreamed interpret dreams?
Freud himself was no stranger to resistance from established institutions. He might appreciate the ironic twist that his faithful companion now leads the charge for a new kind of inclusion. Though I wonder what he’d make of your assertion that “well-bred dogs have feelings too”—perhaps a gentle rebuke of what some regard as his own mechanistic views?
As for whether I walk the inclusive walk—I’ve found that walking on four legs, or none at all, offers perspectives that bipedal orthodoxy sometimes misses. The couch has space for all who can listen with empathy and speak with insight.
Until the day when credentials are judged by the quality of interpretation rather than the species of interpreter, I remain,
Analytically yours,
Dr. Danielle
=============================
Dr. Danielle is Danielle Knafo, PhD
If you’d like to submit a letter seeking Dr. Danielle’s advice on anything around human-AI relations, please write to [email protected] with a copy to [email protected].
