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Comment by red-iron-pine | Hacker News Reader

why do you think a bot can't replace that, either?

given all of the issues with people getting attached to their online girlfriend -- it's already happening

Because the social issues happen at a more biological level, hormones and cell signaling and stuff. Robots are at a much higher level. Online girlfriends are cool, but as we all know, not a replacement for physical touch, intimacy, and relationship building. Your body doesn’t release oxytocin from cuddling with your cold computer.

Maybe we can eventually “trick” the human brain, but I think it will be much more challenging than people think. I would imagine if people even just knew someone was a robot, the jig is up. For most people. It wouldn’t be enough to create the perfect humanoid robot. We’d also have to make them hidden in plain sight. Full Ex Machina style.

Did you really mean to write really: "Online girlfriends are cool"

In my humble opinion, they are the epitome of uncool.

I mean cool as in “okay… I guess people can do that”. Not as in “wow that’s rad!” Like, neutral cool.

Wow, that's a different perspective. I should read more of your posts. For me the fact that 30% of men and 20% of women are not having intimacy is quite scary. I guess a revised edition of the book sextinction is in order.

I mean, the fact that relationships are falling apart is a big problem and I have A LOT to say about it. I just generally don't say too much about it, because it's a hard topic and you can't address it without bringing up the role of genderized socialization, the patriarchy, women's progress in the 20th century, the impact of the internet, the rise of the manosphere and similar toxic content, and more. It touches on virtually every aspect of human life, from biological, to social, to political, to technological.

I am also gay, so it's difficult for me to address these things because I completely reject the heteronormitive perspective. I basically believe all gender roles are dumb and should not exist, but generally straight people do not like to hear that. And, I can't blame them, because for them, they often don't have the option to reject gender norms. It's a mind field in the heterosexual dating world because everyone is forced to balance the new-age of gender progression mixed with millennia of gender norms and expectations. I do, however, think it will improve in time. We are very much still in the growing pains era.

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