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Comment by anon-3988 | Hacker News Reader

> I think this tech is far more important for lonely people who for any reason don't get to socialize much (if at all), this is especially common in older people.

Uhm, those lonely people need to get out and start talking. How is this going to help society? This is going to make it worse.

Oh that kid is kinda quite and sad? Throw him an iPad. Oh that adult is kinda bored and wandering aimlessly? Throw him into a casino. Oh that adult is kinda lonely and feels like they don't have anyone they can talk to about their life? Give them LLM companionship.

Yep, it is over for humanity. People simply don't understand externalities.

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What about people with disabilities, physical or mental, who can't get out, old people with no family or family who doesn't care? In theory it would be great if everyone got some attention and socialized, in reality a lot of people in society are forgotten, no one wants to talk to them.

For some of these people even talking to a robot would likely be a huge improvement in quality of life, and that's just talking. If said robots could also help them out in real life, sort of like a personal assistant, that would be even better.

> What about people with disabilities, physical or mental, who can't get out, old people with no family or family who doesn't care? In theory it would be great if everyone got some attention and socialized, in reality a lot of people in society are forgotten, no one wants to talk to them.

I mentioned in another comment that I totally get it for these people. You are using the extreme cases to justify opioid for the masses. The moment you "solved" human loneliness and interacting by giving them drugged up with chatbots, its over. I am telling you, it is over.

AI psychosis is bad enough as it is with really poor imitation. The moment it can imitate and fool the average person, I just don't see why most people need real friends anymore. We will NEVER be able to get it out of kids hand, the cats out of the bag. You think kids growing up with social media and ipad is bad? Lets see what happens if they live in actual fantasy land with their robotic friends.

I don't even know if I want to live in that world anymore.

Also, your solution to lonely people with disabilities or old age is to create robotic "Friends" for them? This is just sickening. You might as well just drug them. The _actual_ solution is to create a compassionate society where this doesn't happen. The solution to overworked society isn't more opium to relieve the pain.

These people are an opportunity for the rest of us to be better people, to show compassion and mercy. They are not worthless to the rest of society. Giving them LLM companions says that they are — that their only self-worth is their feelings.

Who’s paying for this? Nice sentiment, but last I checked prices weren’t coming down, and we’re talking about a cohort that doesn’t generally have a ton of extra cash.

>Uhm, those lonely people need to get out and start talking.

Great, what is being done to help that happen?

Unironically just "man up". I get that there are some people that have actual sickness that prevents them from socializing but your little anxiety does not count. Believe me, I know I have the same problem. I quite literally had no friends for almost 7 years or after highschool. Society can't afford to babysit a 30 years old man that have anxiety and doesn't want to put any effort. My parent had to call me to check if I am alive, and even then, I don't feel like talking to them after months of no talking. I had zero interest to form any kind of relationship. That feeling that you have when you are feeling like "I would rather just order Uber", yea, you need to OVERCOME that. That is the effort. Ruminating, thinking and fantasizing about what "could have been" does not count.

Even if all I am saying is bullshit, "what is being done to help"? What about what is being done to make it way, way, way, way, way worse. If I had LLM companionship when I was alone, yea, I would have never gotten out of my shell. I would be stuck in there forever. Hell, why should I even talk to you? I should just argue with a robot instead.

AI girlfriends, apparently.

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