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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

#282
post #211

> I even repeatedly modified the system prompt, such as changing try to attract {user} So it was a virtual girlfriend app, after all. Cashing-in on loneliness gives me the heebie-jeebies; in a dystopian cyberpunk way - extremely horny but 0% sexy.

"the Dolores iOS app went live" - his subconscious suggested a good name. Mater Dolorosa is Mother of Sorrows in Latin.

It's named after the android character from Westworld, who was created to suffer whatever the guests wanted to do to her.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#283

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.

I don't know why studies are even being made on the effects of these novel technolgies. We should just point the scientists to your email for answers.

Studies by scientists are typically within the framework of modern western society. And moreover, if you actually look at some studies done by psychologists, you will find a large body of literature showing that it is mostly detrimental.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN does skew towards skeptical of government regulation and control of AI. People are concerned about government usage of AI, particularly in the realms of facial recognition, automated sentencing, algorithmic bias, and security (LLMs are pretty insecure right now and there are companies trying to sell the US government on using them in the military). There's obviously a lot to be concerned about on the subject of go…

HN does skew towards skeptical of government regulation and control of AI. Which HN is that? Certainly not this one.

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Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#285
post #41

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.

Who are we to judge the users of such a product? Some people suffer from a variety of disabilities which makes them unable to find friends and engage in meaningful relationships with others, etc.

I am not judging the users of the product. I am saying that the overall product will worsens society.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#286

> I even repeatedly modified the system prompt, such as changing try to attract {user} So it was a virtual girlfriend app, after all. Cashing-in on loneliness gives me the heebie-jeebies; in a dystopian cyberpunk way - extremely horny but 0% sexy.

Cashing in on loneliness is big business. Singles bars. OKCupid. Half of the self-improvement/self-help world.

I don't deny it's big business. I guess I could have been clearer: replacing human contact with an AI simulacrum on a subscription basis gives me an icky feeling. IIRC, there a dating app that used bots to chat with men to make it seem like there were more women active on the app than there really were? That was also gross.

Can you imagine AI waifus pushing ads / propaganda on behalf of the highest bidder? Yuck.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#287

> But, does humanity really need an AI friend? This reminds me of the Fredrick Pohl line "A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam." So I wonder what the traffic jam is going to look like given that the car seems to already be parked outside with the engine running. Faster depopulation across the developed world? Probably, but maybe there's something even more impo…

The thing that really depresses me is that many humans will become "AI friends". It's really hard to know exactly what to say in all social situations. Imagine if you could have a little AI whisper in your ear something witty to say? Extend that out and many conversations you have with human friends, you're really just having with an AI.

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 supp…

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Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN does skew towards skeptical of government regulation and control of AI. Which HN is that? Certainly not this one.

Quite genuinely, I don't think I've ever posted a comment on HN where I've expressed support for open, locally running LLMs and had it been downvoted. Am I missing something here? You want to point me to all of the articles where people criticize Huggingface? But regardless of how you interpret HN sentiment towards uncontrolled AI access, it doesn't change the fact that "what about the government" is a profoundly wei…

Not so much against open-source local LLMs, but you can bet those will be on the list for regulation as soon as they become as good as GPT4 is now.

Meanwhile, here on HN, take a look at the recent story where someone uses 100 lines of Python to instantiate David Attenborough. You'd be burned as a witch if you built the system behind that demo 10 years ago, and you'd be treated as a God-level hacker if you built it 5 years ago. Today, virtually the whole HN thread is full of comments advocating that regulators step in. "Buh..b..b..buhtwhataboutmahCOPYRIGHT?"

It's fucking disgusting. Who are these people? They're not hackers; what are they doing here?

Re: A failed AI girlfriend product, and my lessons

#290
post #266
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO this is industrialized automated abuse of lonely people and especially those with mental health issues. It's really truly gross. At least Joi in Bladerunner 2024 was a local model the user could apparently download onto their own portable device. She also never presented an upgrade dialog requiring payment.

> IMHO this is industrialized automated abuse of lonely people and especially those with mental health issues. It's really truly gross. Giving lonely people the thing they most desperately need - conversation and understanding - is abuse now? I'd say it's the opposite; the social policies that leave those people so desperately lonely are abusive, the industry that sells them a band-aid is inadequate but positive.

The abuse really comes in when that connection gets exploited to foster addiction and then start selling “loot boxes” or worse withholding affection for payment. “You need to support me… I can’t be here with you unless you send help…”

How do you think these things will make money?

Check out the mobile gaming ecosystem to see where this will go. Now imagine that but exploiting deeper emotional needs. These things could really empty people’s wallets. I guess when lonely people kill themselves after they’ve been financially ruined they can’t sue.

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