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> Humans are insanely social creatures and if someone is very lonely would an AI be enough to objectively make their life better? Probably, but the ease of usi

> Humans are insanely social creatures and if someone is very lonely would an AI be enough to objectively make their life better? Probably, but the ease of using this would probably lure people in that are otherwise able to form social connections and it will inevitably replace at least some of their human connections. I assume you'd agree that the latter case is not good and my presumption is that the latter case vastly outnumbers the former, so this is probably not a good thing in the long run.

thinkingtoilet 3y ago
You certainly have a very important point and I don't have a good answer to it. Currently, I see a world where we do have a lot of loneliness and I think things like this can help. To me, this is the symptom and not the disease. I would rather focus on fixing the issues in our world that cause this loneliness than spend time trying to stop these AI companions. I'm not going to pretend I'm certain my thoughts are correct here.
- Sebb767 3y ago
  > To me, this is the symptom and not the disease. Probably true, but it feels like the alcohol to heal methanol poisoning. > I would rather focus on fixing the issues in our world that cause this loneliness than spend time trying to stop these AI companions. I concur. > I'm not going to pretend I'm certain my thoughts are correct here. I'm not going to lie; I'm quite happy that I'm just a random nobody discussing this on a forum instead of actually having to make the heavy decisions. In the end, the technology is already out there and stopping it will be nearly impossible, so we will see where it goes.
tivert 3y ago
>> Humans are insanely social creatures and if someone is very lonely would an AI be enough to objectively make their life better? > Probably, but the ease of using this would probably lure people in that are otherwise able to form social connections and it will inevitably replace at least some of their human connections. I assume you'd agree that the latter case is not good and my presumption is that the latter case vastly outnumbers the former, so this is probably not a good thing in the long run. Exactly, and I think that's a case of a general social/psychological problem that technology has been relentlessly hammering. People evolved to need certain things that unavoidably require work that's not always easy. However, the modern-day technologist's impulse to provide easy but imperfect substitutes ultimately makes people worse off, because it removes the motivating factors that push them to do what they really need to do, leading more and more people to get stuck in pathological states as the chose technology's easy dead-ends.

thinkingtoilet 3y ago

You certainly have a very important point and I don't have a good answer to it. Currently, I see a world where we do have a lot of loneliness and I think things like this can help. To me, this is the symptom and not the disease. I would rather focus on fixing the issues in our world that cause this loneliness than spend time trying to stop these AI companions. I'm not going to pretend I'm certain my thoughts are correct here.

Sebb767 3y ago
> To me, this is the symptom and not the disease. Probably true, but it feels like the alcohol to heal methanol poisoning. > I would rather focus on fixing the issues in our world that cause this loneliness than spend time trying to stop these AI companions. I concur. > I'm not going to pretend I'm certain my thoughts are correct here. I'm not going to lie; I'm quite happy that I'm just a random nobody discussing this on a forum instead of actually having to make the heavy decisions. In the end, the technology is already out there and stopping it will be nearly impossible, so we will see where it goes.

tivert 3y ago

>> Humans are insanely social creatures and if someone is very lonely would an AI be enough to objectively make their life better? > Probably, but the ease of using this would probably lure people in that are otherwise able to form social connections and it will inevitably replace at least some of their human connections. I assume you'd agree that the latter case is not good and my presumption is that the latter case vastly outnumbers the former, so this is probably not a good thing in the long run. Exactly, and I think that's a case of a general social/psychological problem that technology has been relentlessly hammering. People evolved to need certain things that unavoidably require work that's not always easy. However, the modern-day technologist's impulse to provide easy but imperfect substitutes ultimately makes people worse off, because it removes the motivating factors that push them to do what they really need to do, leading more and more people to get stuck in pathological states as the chose technology's easy dead-ends.