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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

#11

Post by DangitBobby »

constantcrying wrote: post #6

The 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 y…

It's not necessarily only a value judgement if it turns out being less social is actually less healthy for everyone.

I haven't chosen to be antisocial, the people around me have, which makes it harder for me to be social. Others don't choose to be antisocial but are anyway mainly because they can't help but be glued to their screens.

Arguing that this has nothing to do with technology is (social media, in particular) is like arguing heroin has nothing to do with homelessness.

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#12

Post by JohnFen »

constantcrying wrote: post #6

The 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 y…

> Preferring real social interaction over isolation is a value judgement

Yes, it's the value judgement that society is a good thing to have. Without real social interaction, there can be no society.

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#14

Post by psunavy03 »

alephnerd wrote: post #5

How 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…

> 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)

This is not evidence that that kind of a solution is necessary or even acceptable. I mean, the whole idea that there's some kind of "special East Asian wisdom" is itself pretty racist.

People have the right to be weirdos as long as they're not hurting anyone.

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#16

Post by rhubarbtree »

Diti wrote: post #10
cyanydeez wrote: post #4

Mmm. 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...

That really depends on which states you consider to be fascist.

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#17

Post by acheron »

Diti wrote: post #10
cyanydeez wrote: post #4

Mmm. 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...

[flagged]

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#18

Post by rangestransform »

psunavy03 wrote: post #14
alephnerd wrote: post #5

How 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…

> 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) This is not evidence that that kind of a solution is necessary or even acceptable. I mean, the whole idea that there's some kind of "special East Asian wisdom" is itself p…

There’s no special East Asian wisdom, but it’s hard to deny that they have a higher appetite for authoritarianism in daily life than the west

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#19

Post by alephnerd »

psunavy03 wrote: post #14
alephnerd wrote: post #5

How 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…

> 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) This is not evidence that that kind of a solution is necessary or even acceptable. I mean, the whole idea that there's some kind of "special East Asian wisdom" is itself p…

> People have the right to be weirdos as long as they're not hurting anyone

That's my point. The symptom (becoming obsessed with virtual relationships) shouldn't be the end goal of remediation. If someone is doing so due to issues in their life, then those need to be solved.

> the whole idea that there's some kind of "special East Asian wisdom" is itself pretty racist.

It's not a comment on "special East Asian wisdom". Social and legal norms in much of Asia is Communitarian and Legalistic in nature.

Re: AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society

#20

Post by JoshTriplett »

DangitBobby wrote: post #11
constantcrying wrote: post #6

The 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 y…

It's not necessarily only a value judgement if it turns out being less social is actually less healthy for everyone. I haven't chosen to be antisocial, the people around me have, which makes it harder for me to be social. Others don't choose to be antisocial but are anyway mainly because they can't help but be glued to their screens. Arguing that this has nothing to do with technology is (social media, in particular)…

> It's not necessarily only a value judgement if it turns out being less social is actually less healthy for everyone.

It would still be a value judgement in that case. There's the value of people having the choice to do less healthy things (as long as they're not hurting other people in doing so), versus preventing people from doing less healthy things.

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