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Are these people serious? Or is it one if those reddit groups like the one where they pretend birds are all government drones?

jki275 1y ago
lot of mental health issues. I use LLMs for technical things, but these people using them for therapists, I'm not sure that's healthy.
krapp 1y ago
They're probably completely serious. We've seen multiple stories about people getting into deep relationships with AIs and being driven to delusion and insanity by them. Human connection can be difficult and dangerous, and a lot of people are deeply antisocial or fearful of interaction. Many peoples' primary means of communication was already through the abstraction of the internet before AI came along and a whole generation lost years of potential social development time to lockdowns. It shouldn't surprise anyone that people connect with AI more deeply than they do to real people. AI is almost perfectly designed to encourage parasocial relationships.
treetalker 1y ago
Keep in mind that a lot of Reddit accounts are bots and/or foreign troll-farms or scammers who rage-bait and karma-farm for unsavory purposes. But there are also lots of folks with genuine mental issues too. Still, I'm with you on this one: there are at least some real people who seriously feel like that (TFA) about LLMs and it's pretty bonkers.
bigyabai 1y ago
I thought these replies were parodies of the way the AI talked, but then I found the subreddit name. Thaaaaat's enough internet for today.
coffeefirst 1y ago
I have no idea. But either way I don’t think we’ve reckoned with the fact that a lot of people seriously can’t handle how a conversation simulator makes them feel…
jerlam 1y ago
Probably real. The internet / reddit is good at collecting the miniscule number of people with fringe thoughts around the world and then normalizing their ideas. 100-ish upvotes is nothing compared to groups with ideas like flat earth or sovcit.
- walthamstow 1y ago
  Toaster-fucker support groups, as I once so memorably read here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667362 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667362
- nosioptar 1y ago
  The earth is flat. That's why kiwis hate cats so much, they're afraid a cat will push NZ off the edge.
coatmatter 1y ago
Well the sub that post is from is called "r/MyBoyfriendIsAI" so who knows how often they try their hand at self-parody. It does however remind me of all the numbers of novice chess players who would rather play against "AI" or chess bots than face up against humans, for reasons of fear or shame in playing against (anonymous) human opponents, and risk looking "stupid" or being silently judged by someone they'll never meet or interact with.

jki275 1y ago

lot of mental health issues. I use LLMs for technical things, but these people using them for therapists, I'm not sure that's healthy.

krapp 1y ago

They're probably completely serious. We've seen multiple stories about people getting into deep relationships with AIs and being driven to delusion and insanity by them. Human connection can be difficult and dangerous, and a lot of people are deeply antisocial or fearful of interaction. Many peoples' primary means of communication was already through the abstraction of the internet before AI came along and a whole generation lost years of potential social development time to lockdowns. It shouldn't surprise anyone that people connect with AI more deeply than they do to real people. AI is almost perfectly designed to encourage parasocial relationships.

treetalker 1y ago

Keep in mind that a lot of Reddit accounts are bots and/or foreign troll-farms or scammers who rage-bait and karma-farm for unsavory purposes. But there are also lots of folks with genuine mental issues too. Still, I'm with you on this one: there are at least some real people who seriously feel like that (TFA) about LLMs and it's pretty bonkers.

bigyabai 1y ago

I thought these replies were parodies of the way the AI talked, but then I found the subreddit name. Thaaaaat's enough internet for today.

coffeefirst 1y ago

I have no idea. But either way I don’t think we’ve reckoned with the fact that a lot of people seriously can’t handle how a conversation simulator makes them feel…

jerlam 1y ago

Probably real. The internet / reddit is good at collecting the miniscule number of people with fringe thoughts around the world and then normalizing their ideas. 100-ish upvotes is nothing compared to groups with ideas like flat earth or sovcit.

walthamstow 1y ago
Toaster-fucker support groups, as I once so memorably read here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667362 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25667362
nosioptar 1y ago
The earth is flat. That's why kiwis hate cats so much, they're afraid a cat will push NZ off the edge.

coatmatter 1y ago

Well the sub that post is from is called "r/MyBoyfriendIsAI" so who knows how often they try their hand at self-parody. It does however remind me of all the numbers of novice chess players who would rather play against "AI" or chess bots than face up against humans, for reasons of fear or shame in playing against (anonymous) human opponents, and risk looking "stupid" or being silently judged by someone they'll never meet or interact with.