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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

#31

Post by morkalork »

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.

Looking at the birth rates in Japan/Korea and yeah... they're not doing so hot.

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

#33

Post by alephnerd »

Herring wrote: post #32

The more robust welfare systems and stronger social safety nets in some European countries buffer against the economic/social stressors that contribute to loneliness. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-acti...

Japan has a robust welfare system and social safety net comparable to Northern Europe, yet the same problems manifest.

Welfare systems are a net good, but they aren't neccessarily the solution to this problem.

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

#34

Post by morkalork »

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…

It's digging the isolation hole deeper and faster than before. Kind of like how everyone thought heroin was a problem in 90s but now we've got fentanyl and the addiction problem is a million times worse.

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

#35

Post by soco »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #20
DangitBobby wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Historically saying, people doing less healthy things got culled out of the evolution of the humanity and society. Today we have "solutions" to alleviate these consequences of the less healthy hings - AI friends, therapy, you name it. So humanity can obviously go on with those less healthy things, with consequences which I cannot predict.

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

#36

Post by harmmonica »

This seems like a good argument for some kind of AI guardrails. And then the question is who decides where the guardrails start and end? I guess the straw man is: if you knew the AI friend was not going to advocate destructive behavior, to oneself (maybe less important?) and to the world around you, then the AI friend might actually be a net benefit because the actual person may feel more emotionally supported than they otherwise would be.

The problem is there's almost no way to regulate the guardrails, at least in a country like the US, and so then you're left with corporate interests deciding on the guardrails with their only incentive being hockey stick growth in engagement/revenue, which we already know is destructive in almost every corporate vertical (social media, food, etc.).

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

#38

Post by humblebeekeeper »

alephnerd wrote: post #33
Herring wrote: post #32

The more robust welfare systems and stronger social safety nets in some European countries buffer against the economic/social stressors that contribute to loneliness. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-acti...

Japan has a robust welfare system and social safety net comparable to Northern Europe, yet the same problems manifest. Welfare systems are a net good, but they aren't neccessarily the solution to this problem.

Japan, however, has other cultural hangups about things like mental health and vulnerability and difference.

I think it's probably a multiple things we need situation -- a robust welfare system and social safety net AND a cultural acceptance of failing and needing that help.

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

#39

Post by lazide »

chinathrow wrote: post #26
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.

Con - even worse cancer.

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

#40

Post by Herring »

alephnerd wrote: post #33
Herring wrote: post #32

The more robust welfare systems and stronger social safety nets in some European countries buffer against the economic/social stressors that contribute to loneliness. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/projects-and-acti...

Japan has a robust welfare system and social safety net comparable to Northern Europe, yet the same problems manifest. Welfare systems are a net good, but they aren't neccessarily the solution to this problem.

Japan has a super toxic work culture, and economic stagnation *shrug

These problems are like individual health. Everybody knows exactly what the solutions are: Stay active, eat vegetables, get enough sleep, etc etc. Technically simple, but not easy.

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