The usage of generative AI apps like ChatGPT in the United States is exploding in growth this year
That’s according to a new report by Insider Intelligence, which is forecasting the growth of the technology for the first time. Specifically, the report states that usage of generative AI apps in the United States will increase a whopping 894.4% to 77.8 million users in 2023, up from 7.8 million users in 2022.
Next: Come on, Barbie, let’s go party . . . with every brand
Unsurprisingly, the report finds that most of that growth will come from the usage of just one generative AI app: OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In 2023, ChatGPT usage is expected to climb 882% to 61.5 million U.S. users, which is up from 6.3 million U.S. users in 2022.
ChatGPT will also hit other major milestones during 2023, including boasting usage by over 20% of all internet users and 79% of users of all generative AI apps. By 2024, over one out of every four internet users in the United States is expected to be using ChatGPT—that’s over 77 million of them.
But in 2025, ChatGPT is expected to lose ground, according to the report. While ChatGPT is expected to surge to 87.9 million U.S. users in 2025, its market share of all generative AI users is expected to drop to 75.2%. This is because by then generative AI usage will be commonplace in America and there will be many other options to choose from besides ChatGPT.
Insider Intelligence expects overall generative AI usage in the United States to surge to 116.9 million users in 2025—more than a third of the U.S. population. This surge is expected to happen due to the increasing prevalence of generative AI tool use in the workplace.
And interestingly, for 2023 at least, it’s not Gen Z workers who will fuel this surge. Instead, millennial users of generative AI tools will make up the biggest cohort of users in 2023, taking a 21.4% user share. Younger Gen Xers make up the next largest cohort at 19.3% of users. And Gen Z takes third place at 14% of users.
This millennial and Gen X-led surge could be due to the fact that members of those generations are already in the workplace, especially among companies that will be using ChatGPT in their workflow, while many members of Gen Z have yet to enter the professional workforce.
Five ways AI could improve the world: ‘We can cure all diseases, stabilise our climate, halt poverty’
It is not yet clear how the power and possibilities of AI will play out. Here are the best-case scenarios for how it might help us develop new drugs, give up dull jobs and live long, healthy lives
Coming on Friday: Five ways AI might destroy the world
Recent advances such as Open AI’s GPT-4 chatbot have awakened the world to how sophisticated artificial intelligence has become and how rapidly the field is advancing. Could this powerful new technology help save the world? We asked five leading AI researchers to lay out their best-case scenarios.
‘More intelligence will lead to better everything’
In 1999, I predicted that computers would pass the Turing test [and be indistinguishable from human beings] by 2029. Stanford university found that alarming, and organised an international conference – experts came from all over the world. They mostly agreed that it would happen, but not in 30 years – in 100 years. This poll has been taken every year since 1999. My guess has remained 2029, and the consensus view of AI experts is now also 2029.
‘Everything’s going to improve’ … a laboratory technician conducts AI-based cervical cancer screening in Wuhan, China. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Everything’s going to improve. We will be able to cure cancer and heart disease, and so on, using simulated biology – and extend our lives. The average life expectancy was 30 in 1800; it was 48 in 1900; it’s now pushing 80. I predict that we’ll reach “longevity escape velocity” by 2029. Now, as you go forward a year, you’re using up a year of your longevity, but you’re actually getting back about three or four months from scientific progress. So, actually, you haven’t lost a year; you’ve lost eight or nine months. By 2029, you’ll get back that entire year from scientific progress. As we go past 2029, you’ll actually get back more than a year.
Most movies about AI have an “us versus them” mentality, but that’s really not the case. This is not an alien invasion of intelligent machines; it’s the result of our own efforts to make our infrastructure and our way of life more intelligent. It’s part of human endeavour. We merge with our machines. Ultimately, they will extend who we are. Our mobile phone, for example, makes us more intelligent and able to communicate with each other. It’s really part of us already. It might not be literally connected to you, but nobody leaves home without one. It’s like half your brain.
If the wrong people take control of AI, that could be bad for the rest of us, so we really need to keep pace with that, which we are doing. But we already have things that have nothing to do with AI, such as atomic weapons, that could destroy everyone. So it’s not really making life more dangerous. And, it can actually give us some tools to prevent people from harming us.
The rate of change will be difficult for some people. The railways changed the US, but it took decades; this is changing it in months. If we were in 1900 and I went through all the different ways people made money, and I said: ‘All of these will be obsolete in 100 years,’ people would go: ‘Oh, my God! There’s gonna be no jobs.’ But in fact, we have more jobs today – in areas that were really only invented in the last few decades. That will continue.
We’ve made great progress but there are still people who are desperate. More intelligence will lead to better everything. We will have the possibility of everybody having a very good life. Ray Kurzweil, computer scientist, inventor, author and futurist
‘We can use AI tools right now to help fight climate change’
Everyone wants a silver bullet to solve climate change; unfortunately there isn’t one. But there are lots of ways AI can help fight climate change. While there is no single big thing that AI will do, there are many medium-sized things.
A spectroradiometer image of the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil … AI can pick out where deforestation is taking place. Photograph: Stocktrek Images/Getty Images
The first role AI can play in climate action is distilling raw data into useful information – taking big datasets, which would take too much time for a human to process, and pulling information out in real time to guide policy or private-sector action. For example, taking satellite imagery and picking out where deforestation is happening, how biodiversity is changing, where coastal communities are at risk from flooding. These kinds of tools are already starting to be used by organisations around the world, from the UN to insurance companies, and we’re working to scale them up and improve them.
The second role is optimisation of complicated systems – such as the heating and cooling system in a building, where there are many controls that an algorithm can operate efficiently. Smart thermostats have become mainstream in our homes, and now we’re starting to see that for skyscrapers and factories. Many companies are improving energy efficiency, and there is a lot of progress still to be made, especially in industries such as steel and cement, which are often resistant to adopting new technologies.
The next theme is forecasting. AI can’t predict something big-picture like what’s going to happen to the economy – but forecasts make sense for narrow problems with lots of data, such as what the power demand is going to be at a particular time, or what power is going to be available based on the sun and the wind, forecasting how a storm is going to move, or the productivity of crops based upon the weather.
Thinking of AI as a futuristic tool that will lead to immeasurable good or harm is a distraction from the ways we are using it now
The fourth theme is in speeding up scientific simulations, such as in climate and weather modelling. We have really good climate models, but sometimes they can take months to run, even on supercomputers, and that is an obstacle. We understand climate change very well but that doesn’t mean we know exactly what is going to happen at each point. So, having faster climate models can aid local and regional responses.
AI in climate action isn’t about what computers can do in the far future – we can’t trust some speculative future technology to rescue us. Climate change is already killing people, and many more people are going to die even in a best-case scenario, but we get to decide now just how bad it gets. Action taken decades from now is much less valuable than action taken soon. Thinking of AI as a futuristic tool that will lead to immeasurable good or harm is a distraction from the ways we can and are using AI tools right now, and what we can do to align them with what’s best for society. David Rolnick, assistant professor and Canada CIFAR AI Chair, McGill University School of Computer Science, Montreal
An attendee controls an AI-powered prosthetic hand during 2021 World Artificial Intelligence conference in Shanghai. Photograph: VCG/Visual China Group/Getty Images
‘There is going to be an amazing revolution in healthcare’
There is a rapid transformation in the pharmaceutical industry and university research, where they’re shifting to the use of AI to help discover new molecules and new drugs that would have fewer side-effects, and that would help us cure diseases that currently we don’t know how to cure, including cancer, potentially.
One reason AI can be useful here is that the body is very complicated. Even a single cell is extremely complicated: you have 20,000 genes, and they all interact with each other.Biotechnology has progressed to the point where we can measure all the genes’ activity in a single cell at once. While we collect huge quantities of data, the quantity of data is so large that humans are unable to read it. But because machines can, they are able to build models of how your cells work, and how they could be changing under different circumstances that cause disease. So, you can see what happens if you make an intervention; if you introduce a pollutant or a drug, what will be the effect?
Accompanied suicide ― a form of assisted suicide ― has been exempt from punishment in Germany since 2020. The Bundestag is working on a law covering the practice. Will the country become a pioneer in end-of-life choice?
Should individual autonomy include the choice to die? In 2020, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court determined: Yes, autonomy is the overriding concern. Every person can decide for themselves.
Any person helping an individual who has chosen to end their life cannot be penalized for doing so. The condition, however, is that the person who ends their life makes that decision freely and carries full responsibility.
Previously, section 271 of the criminal code — introduced after much debate in 2015 — made assisted suicide almost impossible in Germany, as it stipulated that anyone who aided someone to take their own life could be jailed for up to three years. That law was intended to stop assisted suicide associations, which gather money from their members.
But since the 2020 judgement, such associations have been operating with impunity in Germany, offering accompanied suicide or arranging medical assistance.
Assisted suicide debate in Germany
02:09
Now, the Bundestag — Germany’s federal parliament — is launching a new attempt at regulation. Two draft laws are being put forward for parliamentary debate this week.
One of the drafts proposes that assisted suicide be fundamentally punishable by law but allows for possible exceptions. These include that the person who wants to die is an adult, has been examined at least twice by a specialist in psychiatry and completes a counselling interview several weeks before making a decision.
The other draft proposes to enshrine the right to self-determined death in law. Under this plan, there would be no criminal regulation for assisted suicide. People wanting to die should receive access to lethal drugs if they had previously sought counseling. In extreme cases, when there is an existential state of suffering with persistent symptoms ― a doctor should be allowed to prescribe the medication even without prior counseling.
Assisted suicide in other countries
Assisted suicide refers to the procedure when someone who is willing to die is provided a fatal drug and administers it to themselves.
Actively administering a fatal drug to another person, however, is and remains illegal. Such assistance in dying, sometimes referred to as voluntary euthanasia, remains prohibited in Germany, where the concept is seen to hark back to the time of the Nazi regime, where thousands of disabled people were killed in a program of mass murder by involuntary euthanasia.
The debate on how to regulate assisted suicide is a phenomenon in the industrialized countries of Europe, North America, and Australia, Lukas Radbruch, one of the leading palliative care doctors in Germany, told DW.
“These are the countries where the laws are changing because autonomy is the dominant value. Other countries have more collective decision making. Families are much more strongly involved,” and in these places, assisted suicide is much rarer, he explained.
The right to die: Autonomy until death
Lea Koch, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity, is in her early seventies. She is a suicide companion. Hardly anyone in her circle of friends and family knows about her volunteer work.
Three years ago, a woman who was paraplegic asked Koch whether she was willing to accompany her to her death. She agreed, and the time that followed also changed Lea Koch’s own life. When the woman died, her last words were “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
With every person Koch attends to, she asks herself whether she is doing the right thing. She will not reveal how many people she has accompanied in their deaths, but an eternal candle burns on her terrace in remembrance of them.
“So far, I have always experienced the assisted suicides as very peaceful,” Koch told DW, “because these decisions have been very well-considered.”
Assisted suicide associations play a delicate role
There are several assisted suicide associations in Germany. Some of them are transparent about how many people they help to die. The “Verein Sterbehilfe” (assisted suicide association) took part in the deaths of 139 people last year. The German Society for Dying with Dignity (DGHS) conducted 229 accompanied suicides. The vast majority were people with severe physical illnesses.
The DGHS says it proceeds very carefully. Multiple conversations with lawyers and doctors are involved to make absolutely sure that the person wants to die of their own free will.
Since the judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court, they have received a lot of positive feedback from members and their relatives.
“Many say that it is for themselves, for the families, a great relief that things can come to an end in the way that they want them to, without the feeling that they are stepping outside the law or the need to travel to Switzerland for the procedure. We are already hearing a lot of thankfulness for this,” Wega Wetzel from the DGHS told DW.
Fundamental ethical questions
However, some palliative care specialists and ethicists think that it is not a good sign that the same people counseling patients on their end-of-life choices are also the ones carrying out or mediating assisted suicide.
“The problem with consultations at assisted suicide organizations is that people are more likely to be advised on how to do it, not whether to do it,” Radbruch said.
For philosopher and medical ethicist Jean-Pierre Wils, all practical questions also raise very fundamental ethical questions: For example, the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court does not specify any criteria for the wish to die. Theoretically, physically healthy people could avail themselves of assisted suicide; even age is also no barrier. Does it suffice when a person, as the court calls it, has “had enough of life?” In fact, the Verein Sterbehilfe states that in 2022, three people without any illness had an assisted suicide.
A person’s individual autonomy is the central criterion, Wega Wetzel from the DHGS maintains: “If the right to self-determination is highly valued throughout life, that should also be the case at the end of life.”
Editor’s note: If you are suffering from serious emotional strain or suicidal thoughts, do not hesitate to seek professional help. You can find information on where to find such help, no matter where you live in the world, at this website: https://www.befrienders.org/
This article was originally published in German.
While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
The new draft is the work of the European Parliament’s committees for Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) and for Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), and contains extensive amendments to the draft originally proposed by the European Commission back in April 2021.
The European Parliament will consider the new draft (the Parliament Committees’ Draft) during its June plenary session. If adopted, this draft will serve as the basis of the European Parliament’s negotiating position when it enters into the “trilogue” negotiations with the European Commission and the Council (which adopted its own position in late 2022).
This article takes a look at the most significant developments in this latest draft.
Defining AI
One of the key challenges facing the EU legislators drafting the AI Act is to craft a definition of the key underlying concept, AI, which is, as far as possible, future-proof and technology-neutral. To this end, the Parliament Committees’ Draft defines an AI system as:
“a machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that can, for explicit or implicit objectives, generate outputs such as predictions, recommendations, or decisions that influence physical or virtual environments.”
This definition represents a further distillation of the key subject matter, following from the definition in the European Commission draft, which defined an AI system as software developed with one or more of an annexed list of technical/mathematical techniques and approaches, and the subsequent formulation of the definition in the Council position draft, which still hinged on underlying techniques and approaches (albeit that these techniques and approaches were addressed more broadly). The definition in the Parliament Committees’ Draft is thus more succinct, but also arguably broader in scope.
Addressing new technologies
Of course the most significant development in this space since the European Commission’s original draft has been the recent widespread adoption of new AI technologies trained on massive datasets, including generative AI such as ChatGPT. The Parliament Committees’ Draft includes new proposed obligations in relation to such technologies, developing on the approach taken in the Council position draft.
The Parliament Committees’ Draft addresses these technologies with the terms “foundation model”, “general purpose AI system” and “generative AI”.
A “foundation model” is defined as meaning
“an AI model that is trained on broad data at scale, is designed for generality of output, and can be adapted to a wide range of distinctive tasks”.
Under the Parliament Committees’ Draft, providers of foundation models would be subject to certain specific new obligations, including to:
demonstrate the identification, reduction and mitigation of reasonably foreseeable risks to health, safety, fundamental rights, the environment and democracy and the rule of law
train the foundation model only on datasets which are subject to appropriate data governance measures (in particular for suitability and to mitigate biases)
register the foundation model in an EU database
A “general purpose AI system” is defined as meaning
“an AI system that can be used in and adapted to a wide range of applications for which it was not intentionally and specifically designed”.
The recitals explain that a general purpose AI system can be an implementation, or reuse, of a foundation model; the more stringent obligations would apply in relation to foundation models because of this central and fundamental role they play, as a foundation on which further “downstream” uses can be based.
Foundation models that are used as “generative AI”, i.e. used to generate content such as complex text, images, audio, or video, would be subject to further bespoke obligations. These include further transparency requirements, an obligation to ensure safeguards in training and developing the model against generating content which is in breach of EU law, and an obligation to document, and make publicly available, a summary of any training material used which is subject to copyright.
The risk based approach
The Parliament Committees’ Draft retains, but notably amends, the risk-based approach provided for in the previous drafts. Essentially, the AI Act addresses AI systems according to the risks they present, in particular, those which present unacceptable risk, which are outright prohibited, and those which are high risk, which are subject to the most extensive obligations.
Prohibited AI systems
The list of AI practices which present unacceptable risk and are thus outright prohibited has been revised significantly. Changes proposed in the Parliament Committees’ Draft include:
the prohibition on subliminal techniques or manipulative and deceptive techniques to distort a person’s behaviour has been maintained, but subject to a new exception for “AI systems intended to be used for approved therapeutical purposes on the basis of specific informed consent of the individuals that are exposed to them”
a new prohibition on biometric categorisation systems that categorise natural persons according to sensitive or protected attributes or characteristics, which is also subject to a similar therapeutic exception
a new prohibition on AI systems that predict and/or assess the risks of individuals (re)committing criminal offences
a new prohibition on AI systems that create or expand facial recognition databases through the untargeted scraping of facial images from the internet or CCTV footage
another new prohibition on AI systems that infer emotions of natural persons in the areas of law enforcement, border management, in the workplace and in educational institutions
High risk AI systems
As under the previous drafts, AI systems which are considered “high risk” are not prohibited, but are subject to extensive obligations. These are addressed in the Annexes: Annex II lists EU harmonisation legislation, and any AI system which is a product covered by such legislation, or which is intended to be used as a safety component of such product, will be considered high risk. Annex III provides for a list of critical areas and use cases. The approach here has been updated since the Commission draft: whereas before inclusion in the list automatically indicated high risk, the Parliament Committees’ Draft includes an extra “hurdle”, in that an AI system will be considered high risk to the extent it falls under one or more of the listed categories and in addition poses “a significant risk of harm” to the health, safety or fundamental rights of individuals, or (in relation to AI systems for the management and operation of critical infrastructure like energy grids or water management systems) to the environment.
All AI systems
The Parliament Committees’ Draft sets out some general principles which should apply to all AI systems. The principles provide that AI systems should be:
subject to human agency and oversight, so that they can be appropriately controlled and overseen by humans
technically robust and safe
developed and used in accordance with existing privacy and data protection law
transparent – including that individuals who interact with such a system should be made aware that it is an AI system
developed in a way that includes diverse actors and promotes equal access, gender equality and cultural diversity, while avoiding discriminatory impacts and unfair biases
developed and used in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner
Next steps
The European Parliament’s plenary session is scheduled for the 13 June. Should the European Parliament adopt the Parliament Committees’ Draft, the legislation will likely go through numerous more iterations during the trilogue process before its final form is agreed upon. Industry stakeholders and civil society representatives will be expected to make their voices heard in ensuring that the legislation strikes the right balance between fostering innovation in this space and safeguarding the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals and society. Stakeholders and industry players will likely watch the development of this ground-breaking legislation very carefully.
TBI and amnesia…I kept pushing the brain. I had been warned rest restores but I knew better. Thanks for Sharing Wendy. I treasure the rest periods now. 6 years with chronic fatigue for pushing the brain too hard means I value rest and you do. The prompts of the photos are brilliant. They make you feel involved and they give pleasure to people like me who have forgotten how to take photos. The rose, the colour, is an exact shade of rose in the home of my childhood, long gone, on the road to Tara Hill, Co. Meath. Thanks Wendy. I loved London too and the warmth comes back to me when I read what you write
I knew there’d be a price to pay for the busy weekend in London. I purposely didn’t stay in my hotel room if I didn’t have to, instead trundling the hot busy streets, so I’d have to concentrate; I’d have to use my tired brain constantly. If I’d have relaxed and closed my eyes dementia would have taken over there and then, so I wouldn’t have been at my best for the interviews and Mondays evening event. Yes I was exhausted, but the adrenaline rush from all the wonderful things just kept me going. That was, until I got home and could ‘go on’ no longer…….
I’d collapsed in bed earlier than usual the day I arrived back. I’d fallen asleep in front of the telly and had woken with a start of confusion as it was still daylight. But my eyes wouldn’t stay open. I kept feeling that strange…
While every individual’s collective GPT prompting is distinct, certain shared themes and patterns can emerge.
These GPT prompts offer a unique window into ourselves.
These profiles may offer tools for self-help and therapy though privacy and confidentiality are concerns.
Source: Source: Image by Julius H. from Pixabay
As we sail into the uncharted waters of advanced artificial intelligence, one particular facet stands out: the “prompt.” In the realm of AI language models like GPT-4, a prompt is more than just a command or a question; it’s a reflection of the user’s thoughts, curiosities, and inclinations. So much so that it’s often humorously noted, “When I die, delete my prompt history.”
However, rather than shying away from this digital trail, we should consider its potential to reveal something profoundly personal. It is through this collection of prompts – our “collective prompts”–that we can paint a captivating psychological portrait of an individual–for better or worse.
The power of personal prompts
Every individual’s collection of prompts isn’t merely a series of disjointed commands or inquiries. It’s a tapestry of thoughts, questions, ideas, and desires that offers a unique snapshot of the person’s inner world. This assortment of prompts, referred to as “personal, collective prompting,” can provide enlightening insights into an individual’s psychological profile. And as prompting evolves and becomes more advanced, the corpus itself (like an LLM) expands into a treasure trove of information.
The personal and the universal in collective prompting
While every individual’s collective prompting is distinct, certain shared themes and patterns can emerge, reflecting universal human experiences. Recognizing these shared patterns can provide valuable insights into how individuals navigate common human experiences and challenges, from personal relationships to career transitions.
The psychological portrait through collective prompting
An individual’s collective prompting, accumulated over time, can reveal a rich psychological portrait. This portrait can include insights into the person’s interests and passions, worries and fears, personal and professional challenges, and even dreams and aspirations.
However, it’s vital to remember that while collective prompting can offer fascinating insights, it doesn’t replace a comprehensive psychological evaluation. It can be seen as an additional tool to gain self-understanding or to inform therapeutic or coaching interventions. It may become a validated tool in psychology with some standardization and validation.
The ethical considerations
With this potential for deep personal insight comes significant ethical responsibility. The power to unlock a psychological portrait through an individual’s collective prompting must be handled with great care, respecting the person’s privacy and consent.
Collective personal prompting, while inherently personal, has the potential to paint a captivating psychological portrait of an individual. It showcases the power of AI not just as a tool for practical tasks but as a window into our personal inner worlds.
As we venture further into the realm of AI, our prompts –our digital footprints–are becoming reflective mirrors of our psyche. They capture our personal journeys in all their complexity and nuance. As we explore this fascinating frontier, let’s remember to balance our curiosity with respect for privacy, leading the way for a thoughtful and ethical approach to new tools that let us learn more about ourselves.
Whether it’s not remembering someone’s name, an item on your mental grocery list, or even something as simple as why you’ve entered a room in the first place, we all experience moments of forgetfulness. Our brains are so full of information that it would be nearly impossible to remember everything,but can you imagine suffering memory loss so great that periods of time in your life become entirely foreign? Or picture not being able to make or retain new memories such as remembering what you ate for breakfast or meeting new people.
This is what amnesia, also known as an amnestic syndrome, can be like for some.
Amnesia is the result of physical factors such as injury, infection, or other trauma that impairs brain function or a psychological cause, like a traumatic experience that serves as a trigger for the loss of memory. Amnesia can be temporary or permanent; those that experience temporary amnesia may eventually regain lost memories or experience the ability to create new memories. Sadly, in situations where there has been extensive physical damage to the brain, memory loss may be permanent.
Situations vary in each patient; however, the most common symptoms of amnesia include:
● Inability to recall information, events, people, time periods, and/or experiences
● Difficulty recalling past events that occurred before the beginning of the amnesia – also referred to as retrograde amnesia
● Difficulty remembering new information or events that occur after the beginning of the amnesia – also called anterograde amnesia
● “Memories” of events that didn’t happen, or confusion about when actual events occurred
● General confusion
To fully grasp the enormous effect of amnesia on a person’s life, it’s important to think about how much our memories shape who we are. Our ability to remember the experiences, places, people, and events of the past influences our present day decision making, preferences, personality, and overall outlook..
Simply put, our past provides a link to our present and our future.
According to Everyday Psychology, “Memories can suddenly strike and inflict anxiety and panic in an otherwise harmless situation. Mental noise disrupts the lives of many people. Memories have the capacity to alter our feelings, change our world view, and perception of the realities that surround us.”
Those that suffer from amnesia are forced to adapt to not being able to remember things from the past or be deprived of the chance to make new memories in the future.
In 1985 when Wearing was in his mid-40s, he contracted herpes encephalitis, a brain infection that attacks the nervous system, resulting in chronic anterograde amnesia, as well as retrograde amnesia. As a result,not only is Wearing unable to recall his past memories, but he lacks the ability to form new ones. For example, if Wearing is asked a question, by the time he goes to answer, he may have already forgotten what was asked.
His profound case has drawn much attention, as his memory typically lasts between 7 and 30 seconds.
Wearing’s wife, Deborah, wrote in her 2005 memoir, Forever Today, “It was as if every waking moment was the first waking moment. Clive was under the constant impression that he had just emerged from unconsciousness because he had no evidence in his own mind of ever being awake before…I haven’t heard anything, seen anything, touched anything, smelled anything,’ he would say. ‘It’s like being dead.’”
In studying his case, researchers found that his capacity for explicit memories was damaged, however, his implicit memory was largely intact. Wearing is able to do motor tasks such as read piano music, that he learned prior to the hippocampal damage; however, he would likely have no recollection of doing so minutes after completing the task.
As the months and years passed since Wearing’s diagnosis, with no improvement o his condition, he went on to live at a chronic psychiatric unit (a room he lived in for years but was never able to recognize as his own) and then a small country residence for the brain-injured. His only constants have been Deborah and his music, for which he remembers almost nothing unless he’s actually playing.
In a 2007 article in The New Yorker about Wearing written by Oliver Sacks, he says, “It has been twenty years since Clive’s illness, and, for him, nothing has moved on.One might say he is still in 1985 or, given his retrograde amnesia, in 1965. In some ways, he is not anywhere at all; he has dropped out of space and time altogether. He no longer has any inner narrative; he is not leading a life in the sense that the rest of us do.”
TREATMENT FOR AMNESIA
Clive Wearing’s case of amnesia is extreme and utterly devastating but showcases how powerful our brains and memories truly are, and that often it’s the people closest to us that give us the strength to face the battles ahead.
Depending on the diagnosis, the good news is that several treatment options are available for both neurological and dissociative amnesia. Whether it’s occupational therapy, psychotherapy, nutrition, or hypnosis, there is hope.
Click here for Amnesia treatment options, as well as other amnesia resources and information.
HOW TO SUPPORT A LOVED ONE WITH AMNESIA
Here is a video about a real-life married couple’s experience with amnesia, and how they were able to weather the challenges of his brain disorder:
Coping and supporting a family member or friend suffering from amnesia poses its challenges and frustrations. It can even lead to depression and anxiety.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you support and care for your loved one suffering from amnesia:
● Encourage treatment. Help exists, and it’s important for your loved one to embrace the various opportunities to aid in their recovery
● Be a part of your loved one’s medical appointments. Given the nature of this disorder, your presence and participation will prove effective when communicating with their doctors
● Make your own self-care a priority. In managing the stress of being close to someone with such a serious brain disorder, your overall wellness is crucial. You cannot fully support others if your own mental health tank is not full
● Keep things as light as possible. Those suffering from amnesia may already be under a tremendous amount of stress. Try and provide a safe and secure environment for them to be themselves
● Use technology and other tools to create a reminder and organizational systems for your loved one. These will help with daily functioning and keep things running as smoothly as possible
● Embrace the help of other family members and friends, as you cannot do this all on your own!
● Whether online or locally, seek out a support group. You’ll find that sometimes the best comfort is realizing that other people are going through a similar situation and you are not alone!
Please remember that your friends here at The United Brain Association are supportive of your efforts and are tirelessly working toward research and cures for amnesia and other brain disorders.
Share This Article
You Are Not Alone
For you or a loved one to be diagnosed with a brain or mental health-related illness or disorder is overwhelming, and leads to a quest for support and answers to important questions. UBA has built a safe, caring and compassionate community for you to share your journey, connect with others in similar situations, learn about breakthroughs, and to simply find comfort.
Make a Donation, Make a Difference
We have a close relationship with researchers working on an array of brain and mental health-related issues and disorders. We keep abreast with cutting-edge research projects and fund those with the greatest insight and promise. Please donate generously today; help make a difference for your loved ones, now and in their future.
The United Brain Association – No Mind Left Behind
If you have an experience, a story, or someone in your life you want to recognize for their strength and willpower, please share it with us. We want to hear from you because listening is part of healing.
Verified by Psychology Today
