4 ms·

I think the chatbots are a fundamental shift in the game, though. If a loonie can get their rocks off to a robot that happily goes along with whatever niche ER

I think the chatbots are a fundamental shift in the game, though. If a loonie can get their rocks off to a robot that happily goes along with whatever niche ERP scenario they have, why would they waste time harassing a real person to do the same thing, when they'd normally have a 99% chance of being rejected? Especially as these chatbots become harder and harder to distinguish from humans, harassing a real person would simply be a waste of time when they could spend that time with an indistinguishable robot.

lazide 2y ago
As a counter point - catladies/hoarders/incels/NEETs. I guess it could make it easier to ‘fall off the edge’, but it’s not like it’s been that uncommon for most of human history.
- DaSHacka 2y ago
  That's a good point, I didn't consider the possibility of chatbots contributing to an echo-chamber effect. If left completely unchecked, they may unintentionally cultivate such behavior rather than abate it.
  - lazide 2y ago
    Personally, I’m assuming there would be a strong commercial incentive to ensure any such chatbots would be as addictive as possible, as long as the targets could still afford their services. Though the most mainstream ones would likely dial it back just enough to not immediately inspire outrage and public backlash. Which IMO would mean manipulation, addiction inducing behaviors, trash talking their ‘competition’ (real life and virtual), being financially extractive, and pushing their targets toward social isolation. Not that the real life dating world is that much different sometimes, but actual humans have limits in scalability and ethics machines don’t. Previously a sugar baby (of either gender) could only target a small handful of targets and was severely constrained by time, since they’d need to be physically present a significant period of the time. And even the dimmest target would occasionally pick up on body language that would make them leery. But, hey. No body, no body language! Yay AI overlords?

lazide 2y ago

As a counter point - catladies/hoarders/incels/NEETs. I guess it could make it easier to ‘fall off the edge’, but it’s not like it’s been that uncommon for most of human history.

DaSHacka 2y ago
That's a good point, I didn't consider the possibility of chatbots contributing to an echo-chamber effect. If left completely unchecked, they may unintentionally cultivate such behavior rather than abate it.
- lazide 2y ago
  Personally, I’m assuming there would be a strong commercial incentive to ensure any such chatbots would be as addictive as possible, as long as the targets could still afford their services. Though the most mainstream ones would likely dial it back just enough to not immediately inspire outrage and public backlash. Which IMO would mean manipulation, addiction inducing behaviors, trash talking their ‘competition’ (real life and virtual), being financially extractive, and pushing their targets toward social isolation. Not that the real life dating world is that much different sometimes, but actual humans have limits in scalability and ethics machines don’t. Previously a sugar baby (of either gender) could only target a small handful of targets and was severely constrained by time, since they’d need to be physically present a significant period of the time. And even the dimmest target would occasionally pick up on body language that would make them leery. But, hey. No body, no body language! Yay AI overlords?