'Better than real men': Young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends | Hacker News Reader

'Better than real men': Young Chinese women turn to AI boyfriends

japantimes.co.jp

25 pointsPaulHoule17 comments

Fun as chatbots are they still lack any sort of substance. They can’t have a bad day. Or a good day. Or any real thoughts concerns or interest.

I don’t get how people can build a connection to that. Even parasocial connections with streamers seem more real

Start with an unwillingness or inability to form connections with people and work backwards, I guess.

> They can’t have a bad day.

That’s a feature. Means they are never in need. Never have to deal with moodiness or frustration spilling over to you.

> Or any real thoughts concerns or interest.

Not having any concerns would also be a feature. And their interests and thoughts are whatever you want them to be.

My pet rock also doesn’t have moodiness, never has PMS and can’t get frustrated, doesn’t make it a good girlfriend

Not sure I’d classify chatbots respond to prompts as “their interests and thoughts” either even if it is steerable

Replika has already proven me wrong - clearly people do get attached. I just don’t get it - it’s too shallow to hold my attention for any length of time

It seems similar to how some folks obsess over actors (or really the characters they play) or boy bands, etc. as if they are real personas.

It's a fantasy that they crave (or need in some cases).

We largely finished material emancipation of women. Now it's time for emotional emancipation of men (and women apparently).

What do you mean by emotional emancipation?

Not OP, but having happiness be dependent on other people, particularly a partner.

Exactly. Emancipation is shedding dependence. And not just general happiness. Granular emotional needs like acceptance, appreciacion, feeling of being supported.

We have eliminated humans from other roles in favour of computers as humans tend to be unreliable and behave in unpredictable ways and those two traits are also very annoying attributes in a partner.

I am a guy and have never dated and thankfully have never felt the need to, but if I ever decide that I am lonely, I would be inclined to try one of these apps over people given how messy dating seems to be.

Some previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39372999

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39372999

Anyone who actually feels this way, male or female, is someone you'd want to take a wide berth from anyway. It's probably a good thing for them to filter themselves out of the dating pool until they resolve whatever trauma they're dealing with.

I don't agree. I may have been a crappy partner when I was young, but making those mistakes and facing consequences rather than having a for loop kiss my ass was probably necessary for my growth.

Sam Harris once said that "someday soon, your phone will understand you better than your wife does" and you know what? I think that's true.

Sure, a disembodied artificial companion can't do everything that a human can. But they could be infinitely patient; they could listen to you and help you work through things: they could suggest books or movies you might like, and talk with you about them afterwards: they could help you be a better version of yourself.

That sounds pretty compelling.

Infinitely patient. Infinitely available. Infinitely lacking in competing emotional needs. Infinitely lacking in competing priorities.

Infinitely lacking in bonding opportunities.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com