We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness • Hacker News Board

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#151

Post by nemomarx » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:48 PM UTC

derektank wrote: post #136

ebabani wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way was the gym a scam?

My understanding is that the metabolic rate slows down to compensate for the caloric loss from exercise The only consistent way to enter a caloric deficit is to diet, which is very hard for the obvious reasons

The main effect of diet is that more muscle can slightly increase your BMR, and the other health benefits of being in shape. It does also increase calorie loss from activity at the margins, even if it's a pretty small effect. (maybe 100-200 more per day etc in my experience.)

None of this will help much without the diet, but it's not useless.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#152

Post by 1718627440 » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:48 PM UTC

bandyaboot wrote: post #106

AlecSchueler wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one implied they would, but the thread you're commenting on literally begins with an abstract discussion about using the law to coerce you into having a more "positive" birth rate.

So what is it that you’re saying is keeping younger people from getting out? Just the knowledge that there may be people out in the world with them who are creepily obsessing over their birth rate?

Already getting dopamine in other ways.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#153

Post by gchamonlive » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:49 PM UTC

IgorPartola wrote: post #142

stdvit wrote: post #97

> Even in a world brimming with easy distractions—TikTok, Pornhub, Candy Crush, Sudoku—people still manage to meet for drinks, work out at the gym, go on dates, muddle through real life. They actually don't. Everything from dating and fitness to manufacturing and politics is in decline in activities, and more so in effect and understanding. You can't convince (enough) people anymore that it is even important as many…

I’d like to offer an alternative explanation than AI to this. Shit is just too damn expensive. If you want to go hang out with friends it will cost you $4-8 for a cup of coffee. A dinner starts at $50/person. A trip to an amusement park is over $100 easily. The median individual income in the US currently is just over $65k/year or about $32.50/hour. That means half the workforce makes less than that. When an 8oz cock…

I second that.

Everybody is quick to jump the gun and blame the victim, while all this can be easily explained by the insane lifestyle we are forced to subscribe in order to survive in this crazy cut-throat productivist job market.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#154

Post by thechao » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:49 PM UTC

meindnoch wrote: post #141

daymanstep wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For years, i tried to lose weight with gym and dieting. I failed, and now i know i probably never had a chance to, it was a scam all along. In what way is dieting a scam? You literally just eat less, and you will lose weight as long as you're on a calorie deficit.

Americans believe diet and exercise "doesn't work". The reasons are twofold: on one hand, this is coming from the fat acceptance / body positivity movement, which needs people to believe that diet and exercise are futile, and being fat is just a fact of life, like being tall or short. They want people to believe that being fat is a disability, or even an attribute of diversity that we ought to accept and celebrate. O…

> On the other hand, American food products make it unnecessarily hard to consistently meet your caloric deficit, which makes people wrongly conclude that diet and exercise just doesn't work.

As an American who lost 100+ pounds & kept it off for more than a decade ... this x1000. It is extraordinarily difficult to maintain a healthy diet in the US.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#155

Post by rayiner » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:50 PM UTC

IgorPartola wrote: post #142

stdvit wrote: post #97

> Even in a world brimming with easy distractions—TikTok, Pornhub, Candy Crush, Sudoku—people still manage to meet for drinks, work out at the gym, go on dates, muddle through real life. They actually don't. Everything from dating and fitness to manufacturing and politics is in decline in activities, and more so in effect and understanding. You can't convince (enough) people anymore that it is even important as many…

I’d like to offer an alternative explanation than AI to this. Shit is just too damn expensive. If you want to go hang out with friends it will cost you $4-8 for a cup of coffee. A dinner starts at $50/person. A trip to an amusement park is over $100 easily. The median individual income in the US currently is just over $65k/year or about $32.50/hour. That means half the workforce makes less than that. When an 8oz cock…

Coal miners in 1890s appalachia had healthier and more active social lives than american white collar workers. This does not have anything to do with economics.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#156

Post by RajT88 » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:50 PM UTC

meindnoch wrote: post #141

daymanstep wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For years, i tried to lose weight with gym and dieting. I failed, and now i know i probably never had a chance to, it was a scam all along. In what way is dieting a scam? You literally just eat less, and you will lose weight as long as you're on a calorie deficit.

Americans believe diet and exercise "doesn't work". The reasons are twofold: on one hand, this is coming from the fat acceptance / body positivity movement, which needs people to believe that diet and exercise are futile, and being fat is just a fact of life, like being tall or short. They want people to believe that being fat is a disability, or even an attribute of diversity that we ought to accept and celebrate. O…

Also: the human body does not want to lose weight.

You get more hungry after exercise.

People also are bad at calorie counting because they forget about so many sources of calories (milk/sugar in coffee, snacks, etc).

Let's say you figure all that out - keeping to a consistent diet and exercise regime is hard without some structure to maintain it. Example: I was in super good shape when my gym was next to my office, and lots of coworkers would go work out with me.

All this before we get to the as-yet-not understood effects of ultra processed foods and microplastics.

The body positivity movement I would give next to 0 blame here. May as well blame wokeism.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#157

Post by bee_rider » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:51 PM UTC

nathan_compton wrote: post #18

The idea that AI is going to "solve" loneliness is so insane. Even the framing of the idea is insane, in my opinion. Loneliness is not really about having someone to exchange words with, fundamentally. It is about being validated by other human beings or entities. At a most fundamental level the AI doesn't have a choice except to appear to validate you and this lack of freedom, the fact that you do not win over the A…

I basically agree that there’s something… I dunno, implausible about solving loneliness in a general sense using LLMs.

But, wrt your specific description—these LLM based tools are just programs, and they can be easily configured to validate and flatter, or challenge and be obstinate. Surely they could be configured to have a satisfying relationship arc, if some work was put into it. I’m sure we could program a begrudging mentor that only became friendly after you’ve impressed it, if we wanted.

I think you are right that something isn’t there, but the missing thing is deeper than the surface level behavior. They aren’t AI’s, they are just language models. To get closer in some greedy sense, we could give the language model more complex simulated human like behaviors, but that will still be a simulation…

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#158

Post by CooCooCaCha » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:52 PM UTC

derektank wrote: post #136

ebabani wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way was the gym a scam?

My understanding is that the metabolic rate slows down to compensate for the caloric loss from exercise The only consistent way to enter a caloric deficit is to diet, which is very hard for the obvious reasons

Technically yes but not for the reason you think.

Muscle and fat are metabolically active, which means they burn calories just to stay alive. If you lose fat, guess what? Your body doesn’t need as many calories to survive.

Another factor is the calories you burn not exercising. We burn calories all day, even when we’re not exercising but when people are dieting they tend to have lower energy so the don’t move around as much.

So yes, technically metabolical rate slows down but it’s not some conspiracy against you. It’s a direct result of losing fat.

That’s why some people lift weights while dieting to build muscle at the same time they’re losing fat. Personally, I haven’t had a huge issue with caloric restriction so I’m doing a more intense diet in the short term, then cooling off once I get to my goal weight and switching to more weigh lifting.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#159

Post by kylecazar » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:54 PM UTC

AI is incapable of solving loneliness. It's a biological signal we have (thanks to evolution) to seek social connections with other humans, for things like reproduction and survival. Mentally healthy people will never be less lonely as long as they know they are talking to a model. All it can offer is a distraction and an illusion, because it has no humanity.

Note: I don't even think dogs solve loneliness. They can make you happy, less bored, and it's a meaningful relationship -- but they won't satisfy a yearning for human connection.

Re: We may not like what we become if A.I. solves loneliness

#160

Post by CooCooCaCha » Sat, Aug 02, 2025, 2:54 PM UTC

Workaccount2 wrote: post #150

ebabani wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way was the gym a scam?

Losing weight is done in the kitchen, not the gym. In fact exercise makes you crazy hungry, which sabotages tons of people's weight loss efforts. It's better to lose weight, learn how your body and calories work, and then start implementing gym work.

I’ve actually found running decreases my appetite.