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> females

Callin 'em "women" would be a step in the right direction re: dating.

Unless you're a Ferengi, then it's okay!

> At some point, if a bot passed the Turing test, what's the difference? Virtual youtubers have a mass following despite being a purely virtual being. Could an AI model be trained to act like them, with the latest AI voices that sound real?

There have actually been attempts at creating AI chatbots for companionship, like Replika: https://replika.ai/

It was curious to take a look at it, but it very obviously had its limitations and was directed towards watered down conversation and whatnot, for being marketable. Probably still useful or therapeutic for some folks to talk or vent when nobody is available!

That said, the idea of actually building "relationships" with bots has garnered some criticism, here's one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUQNiy4K7VU

It is exaggerated for views, but at the end of the day you'd still end up with a possibly unhealthy substitute for an actual human connection, much like attempting to replace aspects of intimacy with pornography.

Even outside of things like that, parasocial relationships usually aren't very healthy either, since you're still an audience, as opposed to interacting 1:1 with another person.

Also, those VTubers still have real people behind them, with their own senses of humor, personalities and other aspects, which wouldn't even be easy for AI to replicate or substitute.

Personally, I try not to be too judgmental of these things, because everything that I named probably has a place in the lives of many folks out there, but looking for ways of turning away from human relationships reminds me of something like "Bowling Alone": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone

I also say that as someone who isn't doing too well with dating, admittedly.

Yeah, I've been wondering about whether vtubers have not been handicapping themselves by not using their much more expressive real faces... (and before someone points it out, this is not that much about looking attractive : consider the many otherwise pretty photograph-ugly comedians and stand up artists that are completely transformed thanks to their wit and charisma...)

I would rather be lonely for the rest of my life than get fake companionship from a bot. The fact that already exists is dystopian as all hell.

> I wonder if we'll go the way of Japan, where virtual girlfriends and virtual social lives are increasingly seen as a better option then real life relationships.

That's overstated. Japanese people weren't into relationships because their economy was bad, which made them not marriage material. (They still had sex though, just not relationships.)

It's improved a little; you don't hear so much about hopeless otaku anymore and the birth rate has gone up slightly.

Well, there are a lots of issues with this, so I will just point at the most obvious one : if ultimately one of your main goals is to find someone to raise your kids with, it's more of a hindrance than a help.

Erotic role-playing with an offline bot would be pretty cool.