Allow me to apologize. I’ve been doing a fairly dishonest social experiment on my family, friends, and coworkers over the past few weeks. With the help of some psychology researchers, I set up a scenario in which they would be insulted by a computer, and I fed them a range of pre-written excuses to see which worked the best. Turning many of my subjects into test subjects made them less than amused. I apologize for that; it was a ruse.
The research was an experiment to examine how artificial intelligence could affect interpersonal apologies, one of the most sensitive forms of human contact. The businesses that create AI-driven chatbots advise us to incorporate them into our life whenever we find ourselves at a loss for words or phrases. That’s all well and good for answering a pointless email. However, what about assignments requiring an understanding of nuanced human interactions? Can you write better apologies using a technology like ChatGPT? In any case, ought to you?
How does one write a strong apology?
“We all understand roughly what to say when we apologize. Although this knowledge isn’t secret, we make mistakes with it so frequently,” explains Judy Eaton.