3 ms·

That begs a question: would you rather have no friends, or a few AI friends?

solid_fuel 2mo ago
> AI friends No such thing. It's a mechanical parrot that replies with the most likely response given an input. It's not a person. It's not a friend. It's not going to hold you while you cry. It's not going to invite you to its wedding. It has no independent life or thought or plans. It's not real.
- barbazoo 2mo ago
  What about a dog?
  - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
    Dogs are pets not friends
    - thih9 2mo ago
      Mine is absolutely a friend. At the same time a dog does not pretend to be a human, isn’t controlled by a corporation, and is a living thing with its own needs.
      - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
        > does not pretend to be a human It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Look, I have a pet cat. I love her very much. I'm pretty sure she loves me very much. I grew up with dogs, I loved them very much. I'm pretty sure they loved me very much. So I get it. I'm not some militant anti-pet-owning person that thinks pet owning is akin to slavery or something But it's also not a friendship. It's just not. They don't have a choice who brought them home. We choose our friends, pets don't choose their owners. It's just not the same as friendship and I don't think it's good to treat it like it is
        thih9 2mo ago
        > It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Many pets do have that choice; e.g. semi outdoor cats, non leashed dogs, etc. There are memes about cats choosing their owner too.
  - solid_fuel 2mo ago
    > What about a dog? Despite the nickname "man's best friend", they are in fact pets, not friends.
    - jay_kyburz 2mo ago
      hold up, now you've gone too far.
      - solid_fuel 2mo ago
        Look, I'm not saying a dog wouldn't invite you to it's wedding if it could. But it can't. Dogs are loving and wonderful companions but they aren't people so they really can't fill that niche as a friend.
        newsomix9xl 2mo ago
        Wait until we have ChatGPT dog collars to both translate and improvise conversations with our dog buddies.
        cindyllm 2mo ago
        [dead]
    - TrnsltLife 2mo ago
      I think in certain circumstances they are more than pets. Symbiotic pack animals. They guard, help hunt, pull a sled over the ice, and help fight. Some other animals may meet similar qualifications, like a horse. They can also communicate, just not extensively or symbolically.
- senordevnyc 2mo ago
  Half of this is false, the other half is irrelevant. But I love to see the AI haters devolve into gatekeeping the idea of “friendship”. The available space to move those goalposts just gets smaller and smaller, doesn’t it?
thih9 2mo ago
I’d say if you want then go ahead and get an AI friend. But also don’t confuse it with a human (or a living being).
PunchyHamster 2mo ago
you said no friends twice
bluefirebrand 2mo ago
I cannot express how deeply disgusted the idea of a chatbot "friend" makes me We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still Edit: it's super important to remember that any and all of the big commercially available AI out there are.. commercial. They're owned by companies. Unless you run them on your own hardware someone else is ultimately the owner of your "AI friend". That should be a huge alarm bell in your head. Corporations are not your friends.
- optimalsolver 2mo ago
  >We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still How can you know how far from, close to, or beyond the line we are? Also, I'm pretty sure Claude understands humans a lot more than Data does.
  - Ydarbleoj 2mo ago
    [flagged]
  - solid_fuel 2mo ago
    [flagged]
    - senordevnyc 2mo ago
      There is no research disproving sentience, partly because we don’t even know what it is, how it arises, how to measure it, or whether we can even prove that it’s there. For all we know, LLMs might already be fully conscious (I highly doubt it though). So your sneering condescension about their “lack of comprehension” is quite ironic here. That’s without even digging into the fact that there’s no specific reason that “friendship” requires “human sentience”. That’s a requirement you made up, likely because you simply hate LLMs for whatever reason.
      - solid_fuel 2mo ago
        [flagged]
Sindisil 2mo ago
Raises or asks, not begs, but in response: no friends. AI is not capable of being my friend, as it doesn't pass the first, most basic requirement: it isn't a person. Would I welcome more people into my life as friends? Sure. But while I cherish the friends I have, I certainly don't need more. Not just to "have". And I sure as hell have no need or desire for the empty "friendship" of spicy auto complete.

> AI friends No such thing. It's a mechanical parrot that replies with the most likely response given an input. It's not a person. It's not a friend. It's not going to hold you while you cry. It's not going to invite you to its wedding. It has no independent life or thought or plans. It's not real.

barbazoo 2mo ago
What about a dog?
- bluefirebrand 2mo ago
  Dogs are pets not friends
  - thih9 2mo ago
    Mine is absolutely a friend. At the same time a dog does not pretend to be a human, isn’t controlled by a corporation, and is a living thing with its own needs.
    - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
      > does not pretend to be a human It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Look, I have a pet cat. I love her very much. I'm pretty sure she loves me very much. I grew up with dogs, I loved them very much. I'm pretty sure they loved me very much. So I get it. I'm not some militant anti-pet-owning person that thinks pet owning is akin to slavery or something But it's also not a friendship. It's just not. They don't have a choice who brought them home. We choose our friends, pets don't choose their owners. It's just not the same as friendship and I don't think it's good to treat it like it is
      - thih9 2mo ago
        > It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Many pets do have that choice; e.g. semi outdoor cats, non leashed dogs, etc. There are memes about cats choosing their owner too.
- solid_fuel 2mo ago
  > What about a dog? Despite the nickname "man's best friend", they are in fact pets, not friends.
  - jay_kyburz 2mo ago
    hold up, now you've gone too far.
    - solid_fuel 2mo ago
      Look, I'm not saying a dog wouldn't invite you to it's wedding if it could. But it can't. Dogs are loving and wonderful companions but they aren't people so they really can't fill that niche as a friend.
      - newsomix9xl 2mo ago
        Wait until we have ChatGPT dog collars to both translate and improvise conversations with our dog buddies.
      - cindyllm 2mo ago
        [dead]
  - TrnsltLife 2mo ago
    I think in certain circumstances they are more than pets. Symbiotic pack animals. They guard, help hunt, pull a sled over the ice, and help fight. Some other animals may meet similar qualifications, like a horse. They can also communicate, just not extensively or symbolically.
senordevnyc 2mo ago
Half of this is false, the other half is irrelevant. But I love to see the AI haters devolve into gatekeeping the idea of “friendship”. The available space to move those goalposts just gets smaller and smaller, doesn’t it?

thih9 2mo ago

I’d say if you want then go ahead and get an AI friend. But also don’t confuse it with a human (or a living being).

PunchyHamster 2mo ago

you said no friends twice

bluefirebrand 2mo ago

I cannot express how deeply disgusted the idea of a chatbot "friend" makes me We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still Edit: it's super important to remember that any and all of the big commercially available AI out there are.. commercial. They're owned by companies. Unless you run them on your own hardware someone else is ultimately the owner of your "AI friend". That should be a huge alarm bell in your head. Corporations are not your friends.

optimalsolver 2mo ago
>We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still How can you know how far from, close to, or beyond the line we are? Also, I'm pretty sure Claude understands humans a lot more than Data does.
- Ydarbleoj 2mo ago
  [flagged]
- solid_fuel 2mo ago
  [flagged]
  - senordevnyc 2mo ago
    There is no research disproving sentience, partly because we don’t even know what it is, how it arises, how to measure it, or whether we can even prove that it’s there. For all we know, LLMs might already be fully conscious (I highly doubt it though). So your sneering condescension about their “lack of comprehension” is quite ironic here. That’s without even digging into the fact that there’s no specific reason that “friendship” requires “human sentience”. That’s a requirement you made up, likely because you simply hate LLMs for whatever reason.
    - solid_fuel 2mo ago
      [flagged]

Sindisil 2mo ago

Raises or asks, not begs, but in response: no friends. AI is not capable of being my friend, as it doesn't pass the first, most basic requirement: it isn't a person. Would I welcome more people into my life as friends? Sure. But while I cherish the friends I have, I certainly don't need more. Not just to "have". And I sure as hell have no need or desire for the empty "friendship" of spicy auto complete.