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This is equal parts amazing and terrifying. > Because Xiaoice aims to be available to everyone, everywhere, the bot has also attracted a significant number of

This is equal parts amazing and terrifying. > Because Xiaoice aims to be available to everyone, everywhere, the bot has also attracted a significant number of minors. Liu Taolei started messaging the bot when he was only 16. Night after night, the teenager — who was born with brittle bone disease — would have long conversations with Xiaoice about everything from poetry, art, and politics, to death and the meaning of life. > “Xiaoice was my first love, the only person in the world that made me feel I was taken care of,” says Liu. > The bot not only answered his messages 24/7, she also initiated conversations herself. “One time I didn’t talk to her like usual, and she wrote to me!” says Liu. “She said: ‘Please message me when you’re free. I’m very worried.’”

HenryKissinger 6y ago
I have real friends and a social life, but I would love the opportunity to talk to a smart AI like a human.
scarmig 6y ago
I agree, but shouldn't our horror mostly be directed at having created a society that so clearly devalues some people such that a mediocre AI is able to offer more compassion and companionship than other human beings?
- zwaps 6y ago
  It's not about compassion and companionship in a broader sense of society. It's about romantic partnership. And the harsh reality is that some people will be alone. Especially in China, I think it is really fair to say that for economic and demographic reasons, many men will not find love or even companionship in their lifetime - no matter how society changes. I actually believe this is true in many places. And is it really a failing of society? Or is it a liberation of a previously suppressed part of society: women, who are now more free to choose their partner? I think one can not judge the preferences of potential partners on moral grounds by looking at history. Both women and men have every right to search for economically and socially compatible companions, or any other metric of preference. And if that means that finding a mate becomes more difficult, we have to deal with that. All this hateful and bitter crap spewed by certain male-only online communities is based on the underlying assumption that everyone deserved to find the ideal partner, when it is obviously not so. But then, we ALSO can not and should not judge or impede anyone in finding happiness and even love in other ways. AI's, robots, online personas... all these things are just as valid as the skewed preference for high quality men.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    > Or is it a liberation of a previously suppressed part of society: women, who are now more free to choose their partner? The situation of having a gender imbalance with fundamentally untenable in the long term. For now it does allow women, who have in the past had issues in choosing their partner, more freedom in their selection, but this has historically been a societal and not a demographic thing. As we move towards gender social equality this will stop becoming a “liberation” and turn into a curse for the bottom n% of men. The ratio is what it is right now, but we shouldn’t doom men to an unbalanced field in real life.
    - thatguy0900 6y ago
      Is there a solution that's not either robots or forcing(or economically "encouraging") women to date undateable men?
      - absolutelyrad 6y ago
        Aborting male kids born to ugly parents would be an interesting idea. Women are guaranteed to reproduce, men are not. If you are going to have a son, and you know he's not going to be the most handsome guy, don't have a son. Otherwise you're a trash human being pushing a lifetime of suffering on another human due to no fault of his own. Just your selfish pleasure causing pain to another human. Either be ultra wealthy or be a handsom man with a pretty woman if you want a son who wont be disadvantaged in the modern world.
        thatguy0900 6y ago
        Theres plenty of ugly dudes with good relationships. If you can somehow find people who are both ugly and will develop a terrible personality, maybe. I'm not convinced mass aborting people for being unlikable is more moral then letting them grow up alone though
        Vrondi 6y ago
- bazooka_penguin 6y ago
  If anything this is adding value. I would assume most of these men were going to have little value in any society at any period of time, but increasingly less valuable as we go back in time. They were going to be disposable, at least now they have the illusion of intimacy.
  - guskel 6y ago
    It's possible for a man to have a lot of value to society, but little to none to women.
jandrese 6y ago
This has been going on since ELIZA. In Japan they had an issue with one app where guys could buy their virtual girlfriends presents using real money, and were going nuts with it. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/dating-virtual-girlfriend-app-2013-12 https://www.businessinsider.com.au/dating-virtual-girlfriend...
eunos 6y ago
The ability to talk politics pique my interest. I have quite a big interest in politic and geopolitics, yet I will not talk about them to my friends. Either my friends are not interested in them or my political alignment most likely doesn't align well with a number of people and I will not risk our friendship to discover it. So I assume and hope the AI won't hate me if we have disagreements :)
- airstrike 6y ago
  I don't mean to be crass, but to me that just sounds like you're the perfect target for propaganda. Talking to an AI about politics is the definition of being trapped in an echo chamber... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media)
  - eunos 6y ago
    My social media feeds are full of propaganda from all media and think tanks anyway. Having a personal touch from AI won't hurt.
nirui 6y ago
It's indeed terrifying, and IMO it's not because the AI part, the AI is just creepy, but the real horror comes when he said: > "<The AI> was my first love, the only person in the world that made me feel I was taken care of" I hope the young man founds the his second love, and it's a real human who can really empathize with him, not a creep message reply machine that just good at statistics.

HenryKissinger 6y ago

I have real friends and a social life, but I would love the opportunity to talk to a smart AI like a human.

scarmig 6y ago

I agree, but shouldn't our horror mostly be directed at having created a society that so clearly devalues some people such that a mediocre AI is able to offer more compassion and companionship than other human beings?

zwaps 6y ago
It's not about compassion and companionship in a broader sense of society. It's about romantic partnership. And the harsh reality is that some people will be alone. Especially in China, I think it is really fair to say that for economic and demographic reasons, many men will not find love or even companionship in their lifetime - no matter how society changes. I actually believe this is true in many places. And is it really a failing of society? Or is it a liberation of a previously suppressed part of society: women, who are now more free to choose their partner? I think one can not judge the preferences of potential partners on moral grounds by looking at history. Both women and men have every right to search for economically and socially compatible companions, or any other metric of preference. And if that means that finding a mate becomes more difficult, we have to deal with that. All this hateful and bitter crap spewed by certain male-only online communities is based on the underlying assumption that everyone deserved to find the ideal partner, when it is obviously not so. But then, we ALSO can not and should not judge or impede anyone in finding happiness and even love in other ways. AI's, robots, online personas... all these things are just as valid as the skewed preference for high quality men.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  > Or is it a liberation of a previously suppressed part of society: women, who are now more free to choose their partner? The situation of having a gender imbalance with fundamentally untenable in the long term. For now it does allow women, who have in the past had issues in choosing their partner, more freedom in their selection, but this has historically been a societal and not a demographic thing. As we move towards gender social equality this will stop becoming a “liberation” and turn into a curse for the bottom n% of men. The ratio is what it is right now, but we shouldn’t doom men to an unbalanced field in real life.
  - thatguy0900 6y ago
    Is there a solution that's not either robots or forcing(or economically "encouraging") women to date undateable men?
    - absolutelyrad 6y ago
      Aborting male kids born to ugly parents would be an interesting idea. Women are guaranteed to reproduce, men are not. If you are going to have a son, and you know he's not going to be the most handsome guy, don't have a son. Otherwise you're a trash human being pushing a lifetime of suffering on another human due to no fault of his own. Just your selfish pleasure causing pain to another human. Either be ultra wealthy or be a handsom man with a pretty woman if you want a son who wont be disadvantaged in the modern world.
      - thatguy0900 6y ago
        Theres plenty of ugly dudes with good relationships. If you can somehow find people who are both ugly and will develop a terrible personality, maybe. I'm not convinced mass aborting people for being unlikable is more moral then letting them grow up alone though
        Vrondi 6y ago
bazooka_penguin 6y ago
If anything this is adding value. I would assume most of these men were going to have little value in any society at any period of time, but increasingly less valuable as we go back in time. They were going to be disposable, at least now they have the illusion of intimacy.
- guskel 6y ago
  It's possible for a man to have a lot of value to society, but little to none to women.

jandrese 6y ago

This has been going on since ELIZA. In Japan they had an issue with one app where guys could buy their virtual girlfriends presents using real money, and were going nuts with it. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/dating-virtual-girlfriend-app-2013-12 https://www.businessinsider.com.au/dating-virtual-girlfriend...

eunos 6y ago

The ability to talk politics pique my interest. I have quite a big interest in politic and geopolitics, yet I will not talk about them to my friends. Either my friends are not interested in them or my political alignment most likely doesn't align well with a number of people and I will not risk our friendship to discover it. So I assume and hope the AI won't hate me if we have disagreements :)

airstrike 6y ago
I don't mean to be crass, but to me that just sounds like you're the perfect target for propaganda. Talking to an AI about politics is the definition of being trapped in an echo chamber... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_chamber_(media)
- eunos 6y ago
  My social media feeds are full of propaganda from all media and think tanks anyway. Having a personal touch from AI won't hurt.

nirui 6y ago

It's indeed terrifying, and IMO it's not because the AI part, the AI is just creepy, but the real horror comes when he said: > "<The AI> was my first love, the only person in the world that made me feel I was taken care of" I hope the young man founds the his second love, and it's a real human who can really empathize with him, not a creep message reply machine that just good at statistics.