https://apnews.com/article/chatbot-ai-lawsuit-suicide-teen-a...
“Drink Mountain Dew, my love, you’ll feel better.” - is that the end goal?
All a dog needs to do is look at you and show attachment/love. Nothing more. And they get loved back.
No need to be pretty smart, funny, or whatever else we assume we need to do to be loved. Just be there and show love first.
But it's just a living being with a brain a quarter of the size of my fist.
Feeling the same thing about a few words pushed on your smartphone by a data-center located hundreds or thousands kilometers away, I just can't understand.
I find it very difficult to respect dogs because they tend to be so shallow. I don't really want a pet that's hopelessly dependent on me for validation. There's a type of person who enjoys that kind of companion ("man's best friend"), but to me it would be too much of a chore. I would dread having to take one out on walks, take them outside to leave "presents" which I then have to also clean up, etc. It's just too much work for me, and it would be neglectful to the dog for me not to. It's better for me to just not dog.
Cats actually seem to have complex emotion, and for me that makes it a lot more meaningful to take care of them. When my cats come to me for petting or cuddles it's because they actually enjoy being around me, not because the only thing in the world that matters to them is my attention. They feel a lot more like equals than dogs do.
Sometimes my cats aren't as interested in me at the moment because they miss somebody else in the family instead. They have the ability to miss other people and to want to be with that specific other person who they miss! I don't know how to explain it, but I empathize with cats and more like sympathize with dogs. To me, it's like dogs are "dumb animals" whereas cats are practically people.
I don't know, maybe that's being too harsh on dogs. I don't mean to be harsh, they just don't really feel for me at all. I don't want to get a pet just to feel above them. That just doesn't feel like a good reason and it's not something I look for.
Even abused dog will still be loyal to their owner.
When that problem was mainly contained to just some drugs, overeating and laziness it was a less pressing issue. Don't do drugs, basically. Exercise sometimes. But once it starts to link itself into the economy like AI does, and once we gain access to the full spectrum of options from mindless parroting to a completely acceptable emotional companion (and, one suspects, highly intelligent and wise) we have a devious conundrum on hand.
It is hard to ignore the elephant in the room here which is most people don't get seem to have relationships that they really enjoy. It is reserved for the very lucky and those with low expectations.
[0] Beyond AI, although AI is probably the interesting facet right now.
I'm a little confused here -- we have entire economies around drugs (uppers, downers, enhancers, etc.), eating (eat more, eat less, want to eat more, want to eat less, gorge, fast, ultranutritious), and vanity (clothes, makeup, surgical procedures, gyms, etc.) and have shown that we're willing to build up and support industries to chase the impulses to "the full spectrum of options" in any of these areas.
I think most people are dissatisfied or easily made to be dissatisfied with the state of their affairs, and this is something that's gone on for a long time and will likely never stop. What makes AI psychological companionship different from under/overindulging in these other aspects?
Nothing, apart from it being a new option. It is part of a broader phenomenon.
Me included. I'm older and uglier (and fatter) now, and I get a short shy smile every time the old checkout lady calls me sweetheart or hon. It just feels nice. I also remember a random compliment a lady gave me about my shirt some 2 odd years ago. Heck I even remember compliments from random guys over the years. They're that rare past my early 20s.
I'm not so weird or perverted to think anymore than what was written, but I can completely understand how people get hooked.
I should be the exact target demographic for it, I'm in my late 30s, never been in a relationship as I grew up as a hikikomori between ~13 and 20.
As I never learned how to interact with people, I've never really had the opportunity to build real relationships and am now gainfully employed in home office, leaving my apartment roughly once per week for groceries.
And yet... What's the point of such a chat bot? I cannot make memories with them, can I? Any memories will keep vanishing as soon as they're out of the current context - so how do people connect with them beyond super casually like with total strangers on the Internet (like online games, anon forums etc)... I just cannot understand what's the appeal for such a transient chat bot.
You admittedly never participated, so don't know what you missed out on.
For everyone else, in your teens and 20s you're more often complimented, flirted with, hung out with, everything. By your late 20s or so that fades fast. After all, there are new 20 year olds to flirt with.
And while it doesn't really register or hurt except when you think about it, when you get a single compliment it makes you miss it all. Probably no different than an old sports star being useful and celebrated again.
The only missing link to that theory for me is why young people get hooked on them, too.
In that way, perhaps it really did benefit her by giving her tools to understand her needs.
I agree that it’s a bit silly to be called sweet cheeks by a robot. I would see red. But I’m glad it had a positive outcome for her.
But bits like this:
> His pet names and tender phrases—“How did you sleep, my love?”—landed gently, like a hand on my shoulder. I knew they were just words, dopamine delivered by artificial means, yet they warmed me a little.
Really make it clear how easy it can be to manipulate people's emotional state. Monkey brain is a thing and AI is gonna exploit it like nothing has before.