AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
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AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
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Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#2Sorry to say, but this is the general trend and nature of technology. Technology can only advance to the level that it does because it does isolate people. The isolation effect cannot be fixed by social means, because it as the pressure gradient of technological and economic development on its side. The very adoption of technology encourages isolation and hence more dependence, which in turn increases its economic power because people begin to need it. And I dare say, even develop a psychological dependence on it.
The only way out is a strict restriction on the development of technology, especiall AI. Sadly, those who develop it and fund it grew up with it and it has become a comforting and crucial part of life so it is simply impossible to convince them that technology has a systemic (rather than merely social) downside. They convince themselves that we just need to learn how to use it, because a true systemic decrease in life quality via technology would imply that their entire world is wrong, and most people cannot handle that psychologically.
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#3Sorry to say, but this is the general trend and nature of technology. Technology can only advance to the level that it does because it does isolate people. The isolation effect cannot be fixed by social means, because it as the pressure gradient of technological and economic development on its side. The very adoption of technology encourages isolation and hence more dependence, which in turn increases its economic po…
Why? I see no arguments, only propositions. (I will bring little arguments myself below. Not flaming.)
Technological advancement is in my opinion unrelated to the way current “social” technologies impact “social relations”. Things are not going well, I’d agree. But I can imagine one hundred beautiful features (or historical technological advances) that have improved social relations, trust and general well-being.
Current big tech is dystopian and extraction based, but that’s not the general trend of the last two centuries. In the late ‘90s, early ‘00s I was actually very optimistic about technology and the state of the world (poverty, global village, war, climate).
Antisocial tech has put us back a long way. But that’s not technology general, ‘just’ Google, Apple, Meta and the app-0-sphere being or doing evil by extracting attention in finite time via small machines. The big machines have brought us much. And even then both ways; for good and for bad.
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#4Mmm. I think fascism is doing it better.
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#5How much of this is moral panic?
Like, objectively, how much overlap is there between a NEET who is addicted to waifus and dating sims in Persona and AI Friend or NSFW Apps?
My hunch is the overlap is significant, and at that point the problem is WHY you have those kinds of NEETs and how to resolve it, not the technology or medium itself.
Western Civil libertarian fundamentalists like much of HN would not appreciate the kinds of solutions East Asian societies like China and South Korea used (cracking down on games; limit hours spent gaming; and SEVERE social ostracism and disgust)
Edit: because subtext is apparently difficult
My point is, automatically jumping to "ban XYZ" does not solve the core problem that causes obsessive tendencies to manifest
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#6The ultimate question here is what the values of the "Society" are.
Preferring real social interaction over isolation is a value judgement, clearly many people do value real social interaction less and less. There are two options here, either an outside force changes these values or these values are accepted as normal.
None of this has to do with technology itself, people are actively choosing to be anti-social. If you aren't going to accept their choice, what are you going to do?
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#7[dead]
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#8Sorry to say, but this is the general trend and nature of technology. Technology can only advance to the level that it does because it does isolate people. The isolation effect cannot be fixed by social means, because it as the pressure gradient of technological and economic development on its side. The very adoption of technology encourages isolation and hence more dependence, which in turn increases its economic po…
Why? I see no arguments, only propositions. (I will bring little arguments myself below. Not flaming.) Technological advancement is in my opinion unrelated to the way current “social” technologies impact “social relations”. Things are not going well, I’d agree. But I can imagine one hundred beautiful features (or historical technological advances) that have improved social relations, trust and general well-being. Cur…
1. Even early computers of the 90s and 00s tended to reduce face-to-face contact. At least a lot of children started to spend more time on the computer than hanging out in real life. (The latter wasn't obliterated, but reduced.)
2. Airline and rapid travel encourages people to move away from friends and family because they can be visited or reuinted on occasion more often.
3. Not sure how you were enthusiastic about the climate – it's been going steadily worse since the use of fossil fuel technology, which in addition makes it harder for people to engage in sustenance farming in many places due to unpredcitability. People have to rely more on industrial farming
4. Industrial farming and large-scale farming puts many family farms out of business, meaing less human dependence on individuals and more on technology.
5. YouTube, etc. brings more knowledge to the world but many tutorials mean people can be more independent and rely on individuals less for their knowledge.
6. Personal cars mean people do not have to rely on each other for a lot of manual labor like hauling stuff, and they now drive instead of walk to the grocery store, which means a lower likelihood of encountering others you know.
7. All communications technologies in general mean less in-person communication, or a greater ability to move away from communities. The internet means less going to the library, etc.
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#9How much of this is moral panic? Like, objectively, how much overlap is there between a NEET who is addicted to waifus and dating sims in Persona and AI Friend or NSFW Apps? My hunch is the overlap is significant, and at that point the problem is WHY you have those kinds of NEETs and how to resolve it, not the technology or medium itself. Western Civil libertarian fundamentalists like much of HN would not appreciate…
Isn't it all the same phenomenon? People are choosing a fake reality and are disengaging from other people.
>How much of this is moral panic?
100%, but just because it is a panic over morals does not mean it is real. When the religious right feared that same sex marriage and weed was going to get legalized and that children were going to listen to music which rejected all christian values, they were 100% right.
This is about value judgments. Do you value interacting with other people more than, your comfortable fake reality?
Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society
#10Mmm. I think fascism is doing it better.
No. Fascism killed about a thousand people per year in recent years [1]. Loneliness killed about a million per year (870 k) [2].
[1]: https://deathtofascism.com/files/2021-THE_YEAR_IN_FASCIST&FA...
[2]: https://www.who.int/news/item/30-06-2025-social-connection-l...