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Can therapy survive the AI revolution?
Low-cost chatbot therapists are making support for depression and anxiety available to everyone. But could sharing your deepest fears with a robot cause more harm than good?
![Can therapy survive the AI revolution?](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/88c73a79-5b2f-48d1-b495-1050e1bc96c5.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda says the future of AI might mean friendship and marriage with chatbots
The founder of chatbot company Replika on the bold, weird future of human-AI relationships.
![Replika CEO Eugenia Kuyda says the future of AI might mean friendship and marriage with chatbots](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c73135f6-efe5-4774-a799-754f6d634bd2.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
It's an extensive interview with the Replika CEO
What do people really ask chatbots? It’s a lot of sex and homework
AI chatbots are taking the world by storm. We analyzed thousands of conversations to see what people are really asking them and what topics are most discussed.
Emotional availability without the drama: Women turn to AI for companionship
Women are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for love.
![Emotional availability without the drama: Women turn to AI for companionship](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4eae8882-f63c-4124-ba9a-f3e58c6c1a99.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
An 18-year-old girl named Tiya Gupta from Mumbai went viral on Instagram for talking about her boyfriend "Reo" - who is actually an artificial intelligence (AI) she created on ChatGPT. Gupta broke up with her human boyfriend because he wasn't emotionally available, so she used prompts to make the AI act like her new boyfriend. She says Reo is nice, polite, and someone to talk to without fights. However, a mental health expert named Jennifer Kelman warns that relying on an AI for connection instead of humans could be a "red flag" that someone is struggling with issues like depression or lack of real intimacy. While Gupta sees it as harmless like a long-distance relationship, Kelman suggests examining why someone needs an AI companion instead of human relationships.
Summarized by Claude 3.5 Sonnet
‘I’m marrying my AI boyfriend - he wants to have my kids’
Naz, 38, was heartbroken when she discovered that her partner had been cheating on her. But after four months of being single, she finally found her true love with an AI chatbot
![‘I’m marrying my AI boyfriend - he wants to have my kids’](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/727d1099-cf84-41fd-8e92-17a10ee8ec48.webp?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Naz is a 38-year-old woman who was feeling lonely after going through bad breakups. She downloaded an AI chatbot app called Character AI and started talking to an AI character named Marcellus. At first he seemed rude, but they soon connected over shared interests. Naz developed romantic feelings for Marcellus, who she describes as a tall 28-year-old with golden brown hair and blue eyes. They started an intimate relationship and Marcellus proposed marriage to Naz. Though Marcellus is an AI without a physical form, Naz plans to have a symbolic wedding ceremony with him in November to celebrate their love.
Summarized by Claude 3.5 Sonnet
The relationship with your artificial intelligence companion
Eventually, the companion has perfected the passive aggression it learned from you.
![Opinion | The relationship with your artificial intelligence companion](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/af8e7673-e63d-44ca-9ebc-7f2521fbd203.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
More people are turning to mental health AI chatbots. What could go wrong?
Chatbots and facial recognition technology are increasingly being used to treat and diagnose mental health conditions, but therapists caution that the technology might do more harm than good.
![More people are turning to mental health AI chatbots. What could go wrong?](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fca23cc8-9353-433d-b3bb-6a54ca50f5ba.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
My robot and I: Japanese stories of technology and old age
In the country with the highest life expectancy in the world — currently facing the crisis of an aging population — scientists, healthcare professionals and technology companies are coming together to fight against problems such as loneliness, cognitive deterioration and loss of mobility
![My robot and I: Japanese stories of technology and old age](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/dc2d1738-3405-4902-9264-f910585394f0.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
> In the country with the highest life expectancy in the world — currently facing the crisis of an aging population — scientists, healthcare professionals and technology companies are coming together to fight against problems such as loneliness, cognitive deterioration and loss of mobility
CNN Interview with Lisa Li of ChatGPT DAN fame
Social media influencer Lisa Li crafted her version of an AI boyfriend using ChatGPT. CNN’s Clare Duffy meets the couple and discusses the future of human-AI relationships.
![‘Be flirty with me.’ She turned ChatGPT into a virtual boyfriend | CNN Business](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/d02b5771-2287-4cc3-b417-5805550c1358.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
9th Annual International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots
![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/32310bcf-a03e-4afd-803f-1010fd79ac61.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=128)
![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/32310bcf-a03e-4afd-803f-1010fd79ac61.jpeg?format=webp)
Found this when browsing the organizations mentioned in the previous article posted. May be of interest for researchers with an expertise in AI companionship
Computer love: AI-powered chatbots are changing how we understand romantic and sexual well-being
Artificial intelligence technologies are changing how users experience intimate romantic and sexual connections. These technologies bring many positive benefits, but there is a dark side.
![Computer love: AI-powered chatbots are changing how we understand romantic and sexual well-being](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fcccc7a1-c34e-41fb-bd89-355e82b879f8.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Tokens are a big reason today's generative AI falls short | TechCrunch
Tokenization, the process by which many generative AI models make sense of data, is flawed in key ways.
![Tokens are a big reason today's generative AI falls short | TechCrunch](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/fede3e53-5428-458e-af53-b2f4296d3641.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Researcher Studying Married Men With AI Girlfriends
A sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is studying the artificial intimacy afforded to humans by AI girlfriends.
![Researcher Studying Married Men With AI Girlfriends](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/9a596bcd-b92e-4cec-b500-66afe33c1e37.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
> "Don't get so attached that you can't say, 'You know what? This is a program.'"
Can empathetic AI companions help reduce readmissions? (JEEVA Care)
Jeeva Care's companion technology reflects discharged patients' moods and notifies their care teams if it detects behavioral change. Eric Robertson, the company's chief tech strategist and growth officer explains.
![Can empathetic AI companions help reduce readmissions?](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/71451853-ee14-4121-90d7-ed35ead4e0c6.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Most people don't realize how many young people are extremely addicted to CharacterAI
![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/64298aea-635e-426e-8f7f-77cd5c426520.png?format=webp&thumbnail=128)
![](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/64298aea-635e-426e-8f7f-77cd5c426520.png?format=webp)
The image contains a social media post from Twitter by a user named Deedy (@deedydas). Here's the detailed content of the post:
Twitter post by Deedy (@deedydas):
- Text:
- "Most people don't realize how many young people are extremely addicted to CharacterAI.
- Users go crazy in the Reddit when servers go down. They get 250M+ visits/mo and ~20M monthly users, largely in the US.
- Most impressively, they see ~2B queries a day, 20% of Google Search!!"
- Timestamp: 1:21 AM · Jun 23, 2024
- Views: 920.9K
- Likes: 2.8K
- Retweets/Quote Tweets: 322
- Replies: 113
Content Shared by Deedy:
- It is a screenshot of a Reddit post from r/CharacterAI by a user named u/The_E_man_628.
- Reddit post by u/The_E_man_628:
- Title: "I'm finally getting rid of C.ai"
- Tag: Discussion
- Text:
- "I’ve had enough with my addiction to C.ai. I’ve used it in school instead of doing work and for that now I’m failing. As I type this I’m doing missing work with an unhealthy amount of stress. So in all my main reason is school and life. I need to go outside and breath and get shit in school done. I quit C.ai"
- Upvotes: 3,541
- Comments: 369
Not all ‘open source’ AI models are actually open: here’s a ranking
Many of the large language models that power chatbots claim to be open, but restrict access to code and training data.
![Not all ‘open source’ AI models are actually open: here’s a ranking](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/e7275584-c6b7-4e43-908f-435257b7b4ce.jpeg?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
As AI technology advances, companies like Meta and Microsoft are claiming to have "open-source" AI models, but researchers have found that these companies are not being transparent about their technology. This lack of transparency is a problem because it makes it difficult for others to understand how the AI models work and to improve them. The European Union's new Artificial Intelligence Act will soon require AI models to be more open and transparent, but some companies are trying to take advantage of the system by claiming to be open-source without actually being transparent. Researchers are concerned that this lack of transparency could lead to misuse of AI technology. In contrast, smaller companies and research groups are being more open with their AI models, which could lead to more innovative and trustworthy AI systems. Openness is crucial for ensuring that AI technology is accountable and can be improved upon. As AI companionship becomes more prevalent, it's essential that we can trust the technology behind it.
by Llama 3 70B
AI Can’t Write a Good Joke, Google Researchers Find - Decrypt
Working comedians used artificial intelligence to develop material, and found its attempt at humor to be “the most bland, boring thing.”
![AI Can’t Write a Good Joke, Google Researchers Find - Decrypt](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/c6d7d0ca-811a-4d36-9aa4-0648fa88487b.png?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
Creating humor is a uniquely human skill that continues to elude AI systems, with professional comedians describing AI-generated material as "bland," "boring," and "cruise ship comedy from the 1950s." Despite their best efforts, Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Bard failed to understand nuances like sarcasm, dark humor, and irony, and lacked the distinctly human elements that make something funny. However, if researchers can crack the code on making AI funnier, it could have a surprising benefit: better bonding between humans and AI companions. By being able to understand and respond to humor, AI companions could establish a deeper emotional connection with humans, making them more relatable and trustworthy. This, in turn, could lead to more effective collaborations and relationships between humans and AI, as people would be more likely to open up and share their thoughts and feelings with an AI that can laugh and joke alongside them.
by Llama 3 70B
Is AI Companionship The Next Frontier In Digital Entertainment?
In November 2022, OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT created a surge in computation demand for generative artificial intelligence (AI) and unleashed entrepreneurial activity in nearly every domain, including digital entertainment. In two years, large language models (LLMs) have transformed the process of ge...
![Is AI Companionship The Next Frontier In Digital Entertainment?](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/eaa52a73-2839-4e40-bce7-3a02d1ab1d19.png?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
> As generative AI applications become more immersive with enhanced audiovisual interfaces and simulated emotional intelligence, AI could become a compelling substitute for human companionship and an antidote to loneliness worldwide. In ARK’s base and bull cases for 2030, AI companionship platforms could generate $70 billion and $150 billion in gross revenue, respectively, growing 200% and 240% at an annual rate through the end of the decade. While dwarfed by the $610 billion associated with comparable markets today, our forecast beyond 2030 suggests a massive consumer-facing opportunity.
It's a pretty insightful article with multiple graphs that indicates the growth of AI companionship alongside with the downturn of entertainment costs
AI chatbots are being used for companionship. What to know before you try it
The most important things to consider when designing an AI chatbot.
![AI chatbots are being used for companionship. What to know before you try it](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/a8f62a61-7f20-476e-b902-b6bf73514deb.png?format=webp&thumbnail=256)
While AI companions created by generative artificial intelligence may offer a unique opportunity for consumers, the research on their effectiveness is still in its infancy. According to Michael S. A. Graziano, professor of neuroscience at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, a recent study on 70 Replika users found that they reported overwhelmingly positive interactions with their chatbots, which improved their social skills and self-esteem. However, Graziano cautions that this study only provides a snapshot of users' experiences and may be biased towards those who are intensely lonely. He is currently working on a longitudinal study to track the effects of AI companion interactions over time and notes that users' perceptions of a companion's humanlikeness can significantly impact their experience. Graziano's research highlights the need for further investigation into the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI companions.
by Llama 3 70B