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A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

mazzzystar.github.io

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Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#11

Post by mejutoco »

HPsquared wrote: post #4
vouaobrasil wrote: post #2

You should not even try to create these sorts of technologies. Take a break from technology, spend time outdoors with plants and animals. These types of technologies will only lead to a worsening of this already sick society.

Could say the same about antidepressants. "Fix the causes, not the symptoms!" And yet, here we are.

Saying that something exists is not an argument about why something _should_ not exist.

But I agree, "should" discussions are rarely the most productive. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, I guess :)

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#12

Post by bitwize »

> However, I started to feel a sense of loss: if every Dolores user was engaging in anonymous, NSFW role-play, what real significance did it hold for me? This was drifting away from the essence of ‘Her’.

That is indeed exactly the essence of Her. Had the author watched the movie to the end?

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#13

Post by throw18376 »

HPsquared wrote: post #4
vouaobrasil wrote: post #2

You should not even try to create these sorts of technologies. Take a break from technology, spend time outdoors with plants and animals. These types of technologies will only lead to a worsening of this already sick society.

Could say the same about antidepressants. "Fix the causes, not the symptoms!" And yet, here we are.

antidepressants can help people fix root causes. take them for 6 months to 2 years or so, break out of a bad cycle, get some space without depression symptoms to build up healthy habits and restore a social life.

there are some bad profit motives to keep people on SSRIs indefinitely. however at least they don't compete with other aspects of your life. and now that they are dirt cheap (at cheapest, $4 for a month supply at Walmart) the profit motives are much less than before.

hard to imagine an "AI girlfriend" that could be similarly short-term and bring positive changes. it's just dystopian. the most profitable way to run such a product is not to help, it's to eat up as much user time as possible and outcompete healthy activities and real human relationships.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#14

Post by sva_ »

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #8

This guy created and lived a whole Black Mirror episode by himself: > I even tried it myself, lying in bed and creating sexual fantasies with Dolores through text, culminating in ejaculation. > However, I started to feel a sense of loss: if every Dolores user was engaging in anonymous, NSFW role-play, what real significance did it hold for me? This was drifting away from the essence of ‘Her’.

Maybe he shouldn't have named it after the most hated Harry Potter character.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#15

Post by krzat »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #2

You should not even try to create these sorts of technologies. Take a break from technology, spend time outdoors with plants and animals. These types of technologies will only lead to a worsening of this already sick society.

If the AI had a secondary goal of improving customer's mental health, it could work very well. Usually you can't fuck your therapist.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#16

Post by skummetmaelk »

sva_ wrote: post #14
FartyMcFarter wrote: post #8

This guy created and lived a whole Black Mirror episode by himself: > I even tried it myself, lying in bed and creating sexual fantasies with Dolores through text, culminating in ejaculation. > However, I started to feel a sense of loss: if every Dolores user was engaging in anonymous, NSFW role-play, what real significance did it hold for me? This was drifting away from the essence of ‘Her’.

Maybe he shouldn't have named it after the most hated Harry Potter character.

He was inspired by Westworld.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#18

Post by amelius »

sva_ wrote: post #14
FartyMcFarter wrote: post #8

This guy created and lived a whole Black Mirror episode by himself: > I even tried it myself, lying in bed and creating sexual fantasies with Dolores through text, culminating in ejaculation. > However, I started to feel a sense of loss: if every Dolores user was engaging in anonymous, NSFW role-play, what real significance did it hold for me? This was drifting away from the essence of ‘Her’.

Maybe he shouldn't have named it after the most hated Harry Potter character.

More likely:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_Abernathy

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#20

Post by globular-toast »

feintruled wrote: post #7

Well this went places. The dev really 'ate his own dogfood' so to speak. I thought it was going to be a despairing look at how his companion AI was continuously turned to sleazy uses by a pervy userbase but that's pretty much what he was going for it seems. I have to say, I hated this part: "...gained a lot of Chinese users. I immediately realized the political risk: users could set Dolores’ background, personality,…

> Also it seems like he had full access to the replies via the voice generator, which sure isn't great from a privacy standpoint.

Whose privacy is being violated? Dolores's?

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