6 ms·

A few years ago I was into Eric Weinstein’s content on YouTube. He interviewed Riley Reid, and she is definitely intelligent. It was actually an interesting con

A few years ago I was into Eric Weinstein’s content on YouTube. He interviewed Riley Reid, and she is definitely intelligent. It was actually an interesting conversation. On the broader topic of AI companion chatbots: a bad idea! There are so many opportunities in life to develop real relationships, with real people.

grammerguy 3y ago
Not everyone can or will develop those relationships though. There are people who have mental or physical limitations that make that difficult or impossible, and companion chat bots could be really helpful to them. It could even give them the tools needed to form “real “relationships down the road.
- lacrimacida 3y ago
  Those chatbots will only pull them deeper into an isolated bubble with all sorts of distortions manipulable by tech giants. Are we ready to deal with all that?
- SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
  People say this but i actually don’t think chatbots can provide tools to help form real relationships until they model the kind of behaviors that fundamentally make it hard to form relationships. Chatbots need to be unavailable at inopportune times, have moods that are affected by more than just the person talking to them, take their time in forgiving slights, etc. Even therapists consider it valuable to therapy that you don’t get to talk to your therapist 24/7. The ability to sit with your issues independently is important— just as important is the ability to not freak out when a friend doesn’t text you back asap.
- candiodari 3y ago
  On the other hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU
- JohnFen 3y ago
  I don't see how they could be actually helpful except perhaps as a tool used under the care of a therapist. At best, it would be like giving someone a morphine drip for pain rather than doing anything to actually heal the condition causing the pain. It may sound good, but it may also be an active disincentive to addressing their real issue.
dylan604 3y ago
>There are so many opportunities in life to develop real relationships, with real people. To quote the Dude, "That's like, your opinion man". You're painting with a very broad brush based on your experiences and are expecting everyone else to be the same thing as you. This shows a lack of critical thinking on your part.
brookst 3y ago
> a bad idea! I think I disagree with the sentiment, but I definitely disagree with the conviction. I think it's possible that chatbots will help people prepare and refine their relationship skills, such that "real" relationships are more likely and more successful. Think of chatbots as simulations, which are used in everything from medical to military to HR contexts. Maybe that's not all bad? I'm 100% sure chatbots will be used in ways I'd characterize as "not healthy", but I'm not at all sure that's any of my business, or that those to-me negative uses will outweigh more positive usages.
- Salgat 3y ago
  Genuinely curious, why does it matter if a relationship is real if the person is happy and mentally healthy? Is a chatbot that talks like a genuinely real person that bad of a thing? (assuming it doesn't tell you go to kill yourself for example)
  - ethanbond 3y ago
    I suspect we're a long way from technology actually being able to trick our brain (all of it) into thinking it's in the presence of real companionship. Similar to why social media, despite "everyone being on there and available to everyone," doesn't seem to mitigate loneliness.
    - diggan 3y ago
      > I suspect we're a long way from technology actually being able to trick our brain (all of it) into thinking it's in the presence of real companionship. I remember the first time I played Echo VR. I'm not sure it was because I wasn't used to VR, because of the duration I played the first time or what, but the first minutes after removing the VR headset, I had some sort of disassociation with my arms in real-life. That must have been back in 2017/2018 sometime. Add in current generation of voice recognition and generation, better performance for both headsets and the games themselves, LLM to help the "partner" to feel more alive regarding behavior and I think you could get pretty close to "fooling" someone if they use it enough. I'd guess something like that would make loneliness worse in the world though, rather than better.
abroadwin 3y ago
Don't date robots! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU

grammerguy 3y ago

Not everyone can or will develop those relationships though. There are people who have mental or physical limitations that make that difficult or impossible, and companion chat bots could be really helpful to them. It could even give them the tools needed to form “real “relationships down the road.

lacrimacida 3y ago
Those chatbots will only pull them deeper into an isolated bubble with all sorts of distortions manipulable by tech giants. Are we ready to deal with all that?
SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
People say this but i actually don’t think chatbots can provide tools to help form real relationships until they model the kind of behaviors that fundamentally make it hard to form relationships. Chatbots need to be unavailable at inopportune times, have moods that are affected by more than just the person talking to them, take their time in forgiving slights, etc. Even therapists consider it valuable to therapy that you don’t get to talk to your therapist 24/7. The ability to sit with your issues independently is important— just as important is the ability to not freak out when a friend doesn’t text you back asap.
candiodari 3y ago
On the other hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU
JohnFen 3y ago
I don't see how they could be actually helpful except perhaps as a tool used under the care of a therapist. At best, it would be like giving someone a morphine drip for pain rather than doing anything to actually heal the condition causing the pain. It may sound good, but it may also be an active disincentive to addressing their real issue.

dylan604 3y ago

>There are so many opportunities in life to develop real relationships, with real people. To quote the Dude, "That's like, your opinion man". You're painting with a very broad brush based on your experiences and are expecting everyone else to be the same thing as you. This shows a lack of critical thinking on your part.

brookst 3y ago

> a bad idea! I think I disagree with the sentiment, but I definitely disagree with the conviction. I think it's possible that chatbots will help people prepare and refine their relationship skills, such that "real" relationships are more likely and more successful. Think of chatbots as simulations, which are used in everything from medical to military to HR contexts. Maybe that's not all bad? I'm 100% sure chatbots will be used in ways I'd characterize as "not healthy", but I'm not at all sure that's any of my business, or that those to-me negative uses will outweigh more positive usages.

Salgat 3y ago
Genuinely curious, why does it matter if a relationship is real if the person is happy and mentally healthy? Is a chatbot that talks like a genuinely real person that bad of a thing? (assuming it doesn't tell you go to kill yourself for example)
- ethanbond 3y ago
  I suspect we're a long way from technology actually being able to trick our brain (all of it) into thinking it's in the presence of real companionship. Similar to why social media, despite "everyone being on there and available to everyone," doesn't seem to mitigate loneliness.
  - diggan 3y ago
    > I suspect we're a long way from technology actually being able to trick our brain (all of it) into thinking it's in the presence of real companionship. I remember the first time I played Echo VR. I'm not sure it was because I wasn't used to VR, because of the duration I played the first time or what, but the first minutes after removing the VR headset, I had some sort of disassociation with my arms in real-life. That must have been back in 2017/2018 sometime. Add in current generation of voice recognition and generation, better performance for both headsets and the games themselves, LLM to help the "partner" to feel more alive regarding behavior and I think you could get pretty close to "fooling" someone if they use it enough. I'd guess something like that would make loneliness worse in the world though, rather than better.

abroadwin 3y ago

Don't date robots! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDFzOjw0pFU