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> "Given AI-based systems are becoming easier to build, there are going to be opportunities for malicious actors to leverage AIs to make a more polarized societ

> "Given AI-based systems are becoming easier to build, there are going to be opportunities for malicious actors to leverage AIs to make a more polarized society," Xiao said. "Creating agents that always present opinions from the other side is the most obvious intervention, but we found they don't work." While this is focused with researching topics, chatbots are used for more beyond that as we see with the growing popularity of platforms like character.ai. What's the alternative for people who have no one else to talk to? A lot of the people using chatbots in the first place is because they have no friends, this is their last resort but as we see, this might be making the problem worse.

kibwen 2y ago
You know how online dating services are never incentivized to actually find you a long-term partner, because then you stop being a customer? Imagine a company providing a chatbot for lonely people where the company is literally financially incentivized to keep you as lonely as possible so that you never stop paying. Behold, the future! (Or should I say, "Behold, the present!", because this is all that outrage-baiting algorithms like Facebook and Twitter amount to in the end anyway.)
- sandwichukulele 2y ago
  > because then you stop being a customer? I agree with you! Which is why I ask this, what can stop someone from falling into this loop in the first place? The article talks about agents getting easier to build but is there any solutions to this problem?
  - squigz 2y ago
    The idea of AI companions and their role and effects on society has been on my mind a lot lately, and a frequent topic of discussion within my community - which I think is one of the ways we can help mitigate the negative effects of the rise of this technology: community. We need to build and foster more communities, and more functional, long-lasting relationships. It seems to me that many people don't know how to build and maintain long-lasting relationships of any sort - so quick to find a new romantic/sexual partner, a new Discord server to join, etc. I think we need to figure out how to teach people (preferably at a very young age) how to have conversations - good ones; ones that aren't just exchanging a bunch of anecdotes about oneself - and how to maintain meaningful relationships. Perhaps just as importantly, we need to teach people why - it's far more rewarding to grow a relationship (either with a person or community) over time, to help each other better ourselves, etc, than it is to attempt to replicate those interactions with an AI. I think there's also potential to use the technology itself to help teach these skills, but that's certainly a tricky line.
- zarzavat 2y ago
  Fortunately, chatbots are low on the hierarchy of AI capabilities such that someone will implement an open source one to run on-device. So I don’t think “chatbot services” is a long-term viable business.

kibwen 2y ago

You know how online dating services are never incentivized to actually find you a long-term partner, because then you stop being a customer? Imagine a company providing a chatbot for lonely people where the company is literally financially incentivized to keep you as lonely as possible so that you never stop paying. Behold, the future! (Or should I say, "Behold, the present!", because this is all that outrage-baiting algorithms like Facebook and Twitter amount to in the end anyway.)

sandwichukulele 2y ago
> because then you stop being a customer? I agree with you! Which is why I ask this, what can stop someone from falling into this loop in the first place? The article talks about agents getting easier to build but is there any solutions to this problem?
- squigz 2y ago
  The idea of AI companions and their role and effects on society has been on my mind a lot lately, and a frequent topic of discussion within my community - which I think is one of the ways we can help mitigate the negative effects of the rise of this technology: community. We need to build and foster more communities, and more functional, long-lasting relationships. It seems to me that many people don't know how to build and maintain long-lasting relationships of any sort - so quick to find a new romantic/sexual partner, a new Discord server to join, etc. I think we need to figure out how to teach people (preferably at a very young age) how to have conversations - good ones; ones that aren't just exchanging a bunch of anecdotes about oneself - and how to maintain meaningful relationships. Perhaps just as importantly, we need to teach people why - it's far more rewarding to grow a relationship (either with a person or community) over time, to help each other better ourselves, etc, than it is to attempt to replicate those interactions with an AI. I think there's also potential to use the technology itself to help teach these skills, but that's certainly a tricky line.
zarzavat 2y ago
Fortunately, chatbots are low on the hierarchy of AI capabilities such that someone will implement an open source one to run on-device. So I don’t think “chatbot services” is a long-term viable business.