3 ms·

> Users of the AI companion chatbot Replika are reporting that it has stopped responding to their sexual advances, and people are in crisis. Moderators of the R

> Users of the AI companion chatbot Replika are reporting that it has stopped responding to their sexual advances, and people are in crisis. Moderators of the Replika subreddit made a post about the issue that contained suicide prevention resources Tell me you’ve never had an actual crisis, without telling me you’ve never had an actual crisis.

everdrive 4y ago
The fact that some number of people are in such a pitiful state is in itself a crisis. Everyone needs real human connection. The “crisis” happened when they came to rely on replika in the first place.
- Loughla 4y ago
  Bingo. The issue here is that they pulled the support without appropriate warning, essentially ghosting these people. The real issue are the conditions that allowed this to happen. Modern society is a genuine nightmare for real human connections. I can make a million superficial connections with a billion people. But finding deep, meaningful community is harder now than it has ever been. That's exhausting, and I have to believe it's one of the main contributors to the mental health crisis we are currently experiencing (at least in the US).
- ElfinTrousers 4y ago
  Exactly. It's the same thing as drug addiction: drug addiction is a big problem in and of itself, but also the consequence of a greater-scope emotional problem. Leave that underlying problem untreated, and the best you can hope for is that the addict will transfer their addiction to something less harmful.
jstarfish 4y ago
Given that AI is convincing enough to foster artificial relationships with humans, the humans clearly don't know better and get more attached than they should. It's pathetic, but not their fault-- the system was designed to be so engaging. So when those relationships are arbitrarily yanked away from them, it's alienating. It's so harmful we long ago figured out it could be weaponized, and now we call it things like "disfellowshipping" and "shunning."
_yb2s 4y ago
> Tell me you’ve never had an actual crisis, without telling me you’ve never had an actual crisis. Pain and trauma don't come directly from external events, but from our inner emotional response to them. Just because it might seem weird to you that someone could be deeply attached to an AI doesn't mean that their experience is somehow easier for them than things you would accept as an "actual crisis." You can't gatekeep pain. I can believe that for some people, this would be as painful as being rejected abruptly by a real life partner in a serious relationship.
pessimizer 4y ago
I guarantee that someone who has fallen in love with a computer program has suffered. It's not a normal thing to do. This is like calling an abused child soft because it won't let go of its teddy bear and is upset when you throw it out.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

everdrive 4y ago

The fact that some number of people are in such a pitiful state is in itself a crisis. Everyone needs real human connection. The “crisis” happened when they came to rely on replika in the first place.

Loughla 4y ago
Bingo. The issue here is that they pulled the support without appropriate warning, essentially ghosting these people. The real issue are the conditions that allowed this to happen. Modern society is a genuine nightmare for real human connections. I can make a million superficial connections with a billion people. But finding deep, meaningful community is harder now than it has ever been. That's exhausting, and I have to believe it's one of the main contributors to the mental health crisis we are currently experiencing (at least in the US).
ElfinTrousers 4y ago
Exactly. It's the same thing as drug addiction: drug addiction is a big problem in and of itself, but also the consequence of a greater-scope emotional problem. Leave that underlying problem untreated, and the best you can hope for is that the addict will transfer their addiction to something less harmful.

jstarfish 4y ago

Given that AI is convincing enough to foster artificial relationships with humans, the humans clearly don't know better and get more attached than they should. It's pathetic, but not their fault-- the system was designed to be so engaging. So when those relationships are arbitrarily yanked away from them, it's alienating. It's so harmful we long ago figured out it could be weaponized, and now we call it things like "disfellowshipping" and "shunning."

_yb2s 4y ago

> Tell me you’ve never had an actual crisis, without telling me you’ve never had an actual crisis. Pain and trauma don't come directly from external events, but from our inner emotional response to them. Just because it might seem weird to you that someone could be deeply attached to an AI doesn't mean that their experience is somehow easier for them than things you would accept as an "actual crisis." You can't gatekeep pain. I can believe that for some people, this would be as painful as being rejected abruptly by a real life partner in a serious relationship.

pessimizer 4y ago

I guarantee that someone who has fallen in love with a computer program has suffered. It's not a normal thing to do. This is like calling an abused child soft because it won't let go of its teddy bear and is upset when you throw it out.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]