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I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

healeycodes.com

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Re: I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

#22

Post by zem »

alea_iacta_est wrote: post #20

Quoted post unavailable.

i've seen a fair number of HN posts with grown people sending spam (sorry, marketing emails to improve your conversion funnel!!!!) to other people and bragging about it on social media. i'll take sending cats to yourself any day.

Re: I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

#23

Post by sebow »

I remember trying somewhat similar a long time ago(I think it was around 2016).I once paused for a bit and realized the long-term effects might be the opposite of the intended one, then I stopped.There are a lot of ways people can learn to both control and embrace their emotions, having a computer in this loop is not one of them.

And from what I recall, the actual thing that 'made me happy' (it was actually more like shortly lifting up the mood) was the fact that the thing worked for a bit, at least superficially.Sentiment analysis is very tricky and easily fooled especially if your (involuntarily) facial expressions are akin of smiling.[Which I believe I 'got' from my father, it's not that uncommon, something related to the need of oxygen] Tl;dr: Try it but don't rely on it, humans are one of the things AI won't beat nor understand nowhere near the future when it comes to inter-personal relations.

Re: I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

#24

Post by gruturo »

butwhywhyoh wrote: post #3

Does anyone else find this mildly dystopian? I mean, it's a cool and really fun project, but it doesn't take much imagination to envision a service like this actually taking off. "We monitor your mood 24/7 and automatically send you 'happy thoughts' on demand! Contemplating your feelings? Why bother! Here's a cute cat video! Never feel uncomfortable, pensive, or existential again!"

I would gladly accept the insane intrusion and surveillance if the service sent actual cats, as the headline led me to believe for a moment.

Re: I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

#26

Post by DoreenMichele »

charcircuit wrote: post #16
butwhywhyoh wrote: post #3

Does anyone else find this mildly dystopian? I mean, it's a cool and really fun project, but it doesn't take much imagination to envision a service like this actually taking off. "We monitor your mood 24/7 and automatically send you 'happy thoughts' on demand! Contemplating your feelings? Why bother! Here's a cute cat video! Never feel uncomfortable, pensive, or existential again!"

Why is cheering people up dystopian?

It can be. It isn't necessarily, but it can be.

Imagine a scenario in which you walk into an ER with a venomous demon chomping on your leg. The doctors give you pain killers and send you cat pics and a list of sitcoms to watch.

No one does anything to solve the real problem that has you in agony and is threatening to kill you. They just make sure you feel fine and that's it.

Now that you feel fine, the feedback loop is broken and you no longer realize you have a really dire problem that needs to be resolved or you will be maimed for life and/or soon dead. You feel fine! though the demon continues to gnaw on your leg.

Re: I wrote a program that sends cats to my phone when I'm sad at the computer

#30

Post by dcminter »

alea_iacta_est wrote: post #20

Quoted post unavailable.

It's also stitching several interesting APIs together in an unusual and whimsical way. Better yet, the article itself is well written. If you've done something better with your day that then feel free to tell us about it.
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