Fatal Attraction
“Fatal Attraction” – a cartoon that illustrates how AI is starting to cause the same type of intimacy and trust issues that social media spawned.
Today, AI companion apps interact with users through text and voice messages, calls and augmented reality, even showering virtual gifts upon them.
Proponents of this blurred line between human and synthetic relationships believe it is healthy and similar to the early negative reaction to online dating.
According to the CEO of Replika, an AI companion app with 2M active users and 500K paying subscribers, “romantic relations with A.I. can be a great stepping stone for actual romantic relationships, human relationships.”
Meanwhile, other apps are already pointing out how dangerous this can become.
For example, Yandere AI Girlfriend Simulator, which is powered by ChatGPT, allows players to interact with an AI girlfriend characterized as a yandere, a term used in anime for a character who displays obsessive and violent behavior towards the person they love.
AI bots are also starting to extend deeper into the range of emotional support, for example Dot, which just closed $3.7M in funding from the Open AI Fund, positions itself as a companion and repository for your hopes and dreams.
The CEO describes how it can help users overcome issues such as loneliness, relationship breakups and grief – for example, tell Dot something sad, and the AI sympathizes: “I understand.
Grief has its own timeline, and some days the weight of loss feels heavier than others,” it opines.
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