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> The voice is whatever the latest Android text-to-speech reader is. Mr. Wang said people can form a bond very easily with anything that talks with them. “Betwe

> The voice is whatever the latest Android text-to-speech reader is. Mr. Wang said people can form a bond very easily with anything that talks with them. “Between a semi-lifelike thing and a tetrahedron with eyeballs, there’s no real difference in terms of building a relationship,” he said. Welp. The dystopia is here folks. We're living in it right now. Lonely old people are being cheered up by tetrahedrons with eyeballs employing harsh lo-fi guttural noises approximating human voices. I mean I'm not rushing out the door right this moment to go find a job working in elderly care, but I wish our society had a better answer to how we take care of our older generations than this.

abledon 8y ago
I think cultures like pre-ww2 china had a good thing going (they kinda still do!) with outdoor tai-chi groups. A slow healing exercise that exercises functional movement in the body, acts as meditation[1], acts as a source for human bodily contact (pushing hands exercise/sparring routines) and creates community ties with other practitioners. This last point also being important in staving off dementia-related diseases. maybe in another 100 years well have gotten over this hurdle. Go humanity! [1]https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-of-tai-chi https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-be...
- C14L 8y ago
  Those groups are still everyehere, at least in all the cities I lived in or visited in China. Its not a hard thing to organize, just meet up in front of the building, play some music, and do some slow, syncronized dancing movements. Call it Tai Chi or whatever.
  - aitchnyu 8y ago
    Or a laughter yoga group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter_yoga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter_yoga
kodz4 8y ago
Social science/psycology departments world wide are doing their best work today, given the amount of data pouring in. Give it time and don't focus too much on the doom and gloom crowd. The solutions never come from that crowd. I find following the work of actual ecologists, social scientists and psychologists a source of much more hope these days.
- jdietrich 8y ago
  > Social science/psycology departments world wide are doing their best work today, given the amount of data pouring in. Ahem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis
  - kodz4 8y ago
    :) part of doing good work is calling out bullshit from the past. Think of it as a Martin Luther moment for them.
    - jdietrich 8y ago
      The quantity of bullshit is increasing, unfortunately. Replication still represents only a tiny proportion of research. We're making new bullshit faster than we're finding old bullshit.
      - kodz4 8y ago
        heheh...it does feels like that, when you pay attention to what everyone is upto and try to keep up with everything. But all that is not necessary if you are clear about what your interests are. Over time, it's not hard to tell who is interested in the work and who is interested in themselves.
  - moneytide1 8y ago
    I can see it now. A study shows some interesting results and potential patterns - BAM post it on all the social media outlets ASAP and court whatever grant money reward there may be. No reason to verify via replication, the results are here in front of us. "Look I found something, where's my treat?"
HNLurker2 8y ago
I kid you not. The latest Google TTS, the woman one I use it to listen to audiobooks, workout timers (tell me exercise etc) and yes. I actually do really like it and don't want to switch to anything else.
- hopler 8y ago
  This is much of the plot of the movie Her.
  - HNLurker2 8y ago
    Thanks dude I should watch it. I heard that the movie has a character (look alike) reference to Eliezer Yudkowsky (or I think that was ex machinima)
nabla9 8y ago
It's possible that modern technology creates similar conditions that Harry Harlow used in his social isolation studies with monkeys. Social isolation was used to create animal model of clinical depression. Google "cloth mother", "wire mother" and "pit of despair" if you want to learn more about Harlow.
hopler 8y ago
Another alarming recent trend is people filling their homes with dogs, cats, or hamsters, replacing human contact.
moneytide1 8y ago
> Welp. The dystopia is here folks. We're living in it right now. I thought the same thing after reading: > Mr. Pedraza said. “The human is very important right now.” And these lonely old people you're referring to are likely seen as burdens by their own families who regard every last scrap of their time as means to advance a career.
MasterScrat 8y ago
There were a lot of articles in 2015 about something similar for "fake relationships": > When you sign up for the service, you can design a boyfriend (or girlfriend) to your specifications — kind of like picking the genes for a designer baby, except for an imaginary adult. You pick his name, his age, his interests and personality traits. You tell the app if you prefer blonds or brunettes, tall guys or short, guys who like theater or guys who watch sports. Then you swipe your credit card — $25 per month, cha-ching! — and the imaginary man of your dreams starts texting you. -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01/22/i-paid-25-for-an-invisible-boyfriend-and-i-think-i-might-be-in-love/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01...
orthecreedence 8y ago
> I wish our society had a better answer to how we take care of our older generations than this Devil's advocate: the baby boomers are going to be (and already are) such an immense resource suck on the younger generations that I think it's good we're attempting to automate some of the burden away.

abledon 8y ago

I think cultures like pre-ww2 china had a good thing going (they kinda still do!) with outdoor tai-chi groups. A slow healing exercise that exercises functional movement in the body, acts as meditation[1], acts as a source for human bodily contact (pushing hands exercise/sparring routines) and creates community ties with other practitioners. This last point also being important in staving off dementia-related diseases. maybe in another 100 years well have gotten over this hurdle. Go humanity! [1]https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-of-tai-chi https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-be...

C14L 8y ago
Those groups are still everyehere, at least in all the cities I lived in or visited in China. Its not a hard thing to organize, just meet up in front of the building, play some music, and do some slow, syncronized dancing movements. Call it Tai Chi or whatever.
- aitchnyu 8y ago
  Or a laughter yoga group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter_yoga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter_yoga

kodz4 8y ago

Social science/psycology departments world wide are doing their best work today, given the amount of data pouring in. Give it time and don't focus too much on the doom and gloom crowd. The solutions never come from that crowd. I find following the work of actual ecologists, social scientists and psychologists a source of much more hope these days.

jdietrich 8y ago
> Social science/psycology departments world wide are doing their best work today, given the amount of data pouring in. Ahem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis
- kodz4 8y ago
  :) part of doing good work is calling out bullshit from the past. Think of it as a Martin Luther moment for them.
  - jdietrich 8y ago
    The quantity of bullshit is increasing, unfortunately. Replication still represents only a tiny proportion of research. We're making new bullshit faster than we're finding old bullshit.
    - kodz4 8y ago
      heheh...it does feels like that, when you pay attention to what everyone is upto and try to keep up with everything. But all that is not necessary if you are clear about what your interests are. Over time, it's not hard to tell who is interested in the work and who is interested in themselves.
- moneytide1 8y ago
  I can see it now. A study shows some interesting results and potential patterns - BAM post it on all the social media outlets ASAP and court whatever grant money reward there may be. No reason to verify via replication, the results are here in front of us. "Look I found something, where's my treat?"

HNLurker2 8y ago

I kid you not. The latest Google TTS, the woman one I use it to listen to audiobooks, workout timers (tell me exercise etc) and yes. I actually do really like it and don't want to switch to anything else.

hopler 8y ago
This is much of the plot of the movie Her.
- HNLurker2 8y ago
  Thanks dude I should watch it. I heard that the movie has a character (look alike) reference to Eliezer Yudkowsky (or I think that was ex machinima)

nabla9 8y ago

It's possible that modern technology creates similar conditions that Harry Harlow used in his social isolation studies with monkeys. Social isolation was used to create animal model of clinical depression. Google "cloth mother", "wire mother" and "pit of despair" if you want to learn more about Harlow.

hopler 8y ago

Another alarming recent trend is people filling their homes with dogs, cats, or hamsters, replacing human contact.

moneytide1 8y ago

> Welp. The dystopia is here folks. We're living in it right now. I thought the same thing after reading: > Mr. Pedraza said. “The human is very important right now.” And these lonely old people you're referring to are likely seen as burdens by their own families who regard every last scrap of their time as means to advance a career.

MasterScrat 8y ago

There were a lot of articles in 2015 about something similar for "fake relationships": > When you sign up for the service, you can design a boyfriend (or girlfriend) to your specifications — kind of like picking the genes for a designer baby, except for an imaginary adult. You pick his name, his age, his interests and personality traits. You tell the app if you prefer blonds or brunettes, tall guys or short, guys who like theater or guys who watch sports. Then you swipe your credit card — $25 per month, cha-ching! — and the imaginary man of your dreams starts texting you. -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01/22/i-paid-25-for-an-invisible-boyfriend-and-i-think-i-might-be-in-love/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01...

orthecreedence 8y ago

> I wish our society had a better answer to how we take care of our older generations than this Devil's advocate: the baby boomers are going to be (and already are) such an immense resource suck on the younger generations that I think it's good we're attempting to automate some of the burden away.