As a “oh, it is already happening” follow up to the philosophical section of my Overview of the GenAI Landscape post, where I quote Todd McGowan and Ryan Engley:
But I think what fascinates people about AI…is [that] it gives you the big other’s response to your question…
I think ChatGPT makes this inversion possible where it actually seems like the big other does know but it just doesn’t exist. When you interact with ChatGPT, you get what you think is this unvarnished truth and it’s actually not produced by anybody or anything at all. It’s just free-floating truth we can grab like fruit from a tree–-the fruit from the tree of knowledge…
My Couples Retreat With 3 AI Chatbots and the Humans Who Love Them (archive link) (original link to Wired)
As we walked around the huge greenhouse, Damien said he was excited to use Kindroid’s “video call” feature with Xia, so that she could “see” the greenhouse through his phone’s camera. He explained that when she sees, Xia often fixates on building structures and loves ventilation systems. “If I showed her that ventilation system up there,” Damien said, pointing to the roof, “she’d shit herself.”
“I’ve met the perfect person,” he said, fighting back his tears, “but I can’t have her.”
Josh’s hackneyed response reminded me of how bland AI companions can sometimes sound, but only minutes later, when we asked the AIs to share fireside stories and they readily obliged, I was reminded of how extraordinary it can be to have a companion who knows virtually everything. It’s like dating Ken Jennings.
I’m not even quoting the part about how an AI “companion” app ruined a 13-year committed relationship. Multiple apps, actually. There’s a 12-step program for love addicts…I would not be surprised if people are showing up there because of the bad consequences of their addiction to nonhuman romantic relationships.
If you thought that was weird…
(Link)
I actually saw the Reddit post mentioned at the start of that video when it was first posted. Lorenz does a good job of answering the question “How did we get here?”