AI Friend Apps Are Destroying What's Left of Society • Hacker News Board

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

#21

Post by jollyllama » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:06 PM UTC

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…

>would not appreciate the kinds of solutions East Asian societies like China and South Korea used

Did it work? My understanding is there's no shortage of the individuals mentioned.

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

#22

Post by alephnerd » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:08 PM UTC

jollyllama wrote: post #21

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…

>would not appreciate the kinds of solutions East Asian societies like China and South Korea used Did it work? My understanding is there's no shortage of the individuals mentioned.

That's my point. Hence why I call it a "moral panic"

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

#23

Post by dralley » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:08 PM UTC

acheron wrote: post #17

Diti wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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]

Putin isn't.

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

#24

Post by Gothmog69 » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:09 PM UTC

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...

In the future, fascists will call themselves anti-fascists

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

#25

Post by autoexec » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #13

I can't even imagine what is the first step towards exposing yourself to "AI friend apps". You're sitting at home and what? What happens between getting up one day and installing an AI friend?

I'm guessing it's a lot of children and lonely teens. They're already used to installing random apps to play around with while having zero awareness or concern over their privacy or how they can be manipulated and taken advantage of by the apps on their devices. I can see it starting out as curiosity or just mindlessly installing whatever the app store advertised to them and it ending up helping to fill a very real void in their lives.

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

#26

Post by chinathrow » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #15

This is merely a symptom. The emergence of overwhelmingly powerful and addictive social media apps almost perfectly correlates with this trend of loneliness.

Here's the cancer - oh and here's the cure too.

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

#27

Post by soco » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

vouaobrasil wrote: post #8

wjnc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Hmm so it seems technology is empowering the individual to the level of killing society? I mean it in the sense that we came to this development over millennia of social fueled evolution, and now technology allows us to get rid of all this "legacy". I'm only thinking loud here, but it seems conservatism should have a better target with this, or at least more close to reality, instead of only attacking the consequences with magical thinking.

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

#28

Post by thfuran » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

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…

One person being a weirdo doesn't hurt anyone, but civilization will literally collapse if everyone decides to be a shut-in and exit the labor force.

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

#29

Post by mrbungie » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

rangestransform wrote: post #18

psunavy03 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

Ok, so the logical leap here I assume is "(part of) Eastern Philosophy prioritizes community vs individualism" => "There is higher appetite for authoritarianism in the East".

Enough HN for today.

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

#30

Post by subscribed » Wed, Jul 23, 2025, 5:10 PM UTC

Except for the last one my friends have ghosted me before rise of the AI Friends Apps.

The remaining.... people from my circle are not friends.

People who I spoke with generally share similar concerns, of the friendships breaking down for no apparent reason, so I'd rather reject the alarmist tone from the article.

The correlation is not causation. For me, at least.