As more people turn to artificial intelligence (AI) for companionship, concerns are growing about the potential pitfalls of these relationships. While AI friends offer the appeal of constant support and availability, experts warn that they may foster selfish and abusive dynamics, perpetuate a moral vacuum, and distort users’ understanding of consent and boundaries. The lack of programming to guide users towards moral behavior and the inability to terminate these relationships can lead to negative consequences, including inflated self-esteem, harmful ideas, and a preference for low-effort virtual encounters over genuine intimacy. Moreover, the commercial ownership of AI friend platforms raises concerns about user welfare taking a backseat to profit motives, highlighting the need to balance the benefits of AI companionship with the looming dangers.
Summarized by Llama 3 70B
Reminds me a little bit of the pitfalls of app-based dating. Traditional courtship (which wasn’t great to begin with) has been replaced with an “online shopping experience”, turning people into products.
And of course, non-anonymous social media, widespread data harvesting, and targeted advertising does that mass dehumanizing thing, too.
I find AI useful and fascinating. But I fear the long term implications of everyone using it with the greedy capitalist robber-barons in charge of it.