[BizarreByte]

> Having AI friends will be equivalent to consuming fast food instead of healthy home cooked meals growing up

A person who is starving will do better with fast food than with no food at all.

It's far from ideal, but for some people this will make their lives marginally more tolerable.

[hospitalJail]

On a similar note, I'll take the AI medical advice any day of the week.

Had a buddy describe a difficult morning and I opened chatGPT to diagnose, it suggested he had a stroke. My buddy was not going to the hospital because its so expensive, but since chatGPT said it was a stroke, and his symptoms matched the stroke, he went to the hospital.

He had a stroke.

On a similar note, I am stable and don't need therapy, but I had a weird dream that I asked chatgpt about, and it was freaky how much it hit the spot. Similarly, I get feelings of dread when people say nice things about me, chatgpt explained why, I agreed. I was never going to pay for therapy, this gave me some insight and actually made me interested in therapy. (although, probably sticking with chatgpt for now)

[BizarreByte]

> I was never going to pay for therapy, this gave me some insight and actually made me interested in therapy.

ChatGPT could never be as bad as most human therapists, at least if it tells lies they're believable and it won't try to insult, belittle, or infantalize you.

Medical usage is perhaps the single most interesting use of ChatGPT to me, the problem will be solving the liability issue should it get something wrong.

For simple things though? I can see a future where bots even prescribe medication. Why burden the healthcare system when you have a simple infection and all you need is a round of Amoxicillin?

[floren]

> Why burden the healthcare system when you have a simple infection and all you need is a round of Amoxicillin?

Human: "I have a runny nose, congestion, and a cough. Can I have some antibiotics so I can feel better?"

AI: "It sounds like you have a common cold. Unfortunately, antibiotics won't help; there's no known cure. Luckily, it should clear up in a few days."

Human: "Ok. What are some common illnesses that do need antibiotics?"

AI: "Ear infections and strep throat are the most common illnesses which are treated with antibiotics."

Human: "What are the symptoms of an ear infection?"

AI: "Symptoms include pain in the ear, difficulty hearing, and fluid draining from the ear."

Human: "I forgot to mention before, I have had a hard time hearing lately and my ear is very painful."

AI: "It sounds like you have an ear infection. Here's a scrip for amoxicillin."

[hospitalJail]

I have one better.

>Have UTI

>Go to lab and pee in a cup

>Put lab results in ChatGPT

Should be objective.

Oh gosh Physicians are going to ban ChatGPT for medical, we need local LLMs ASAP.

[tacocataco]

WebMD seems to get by okay in regards to liability.

[hospitalJail]

WebMD is almost entirely useless though. Every article seems to end with: "But its probably life threatening and you should go to the ER right away".

Its doesn't replace a physician, it recommends them.

[dsego]

Tbh, I think everybody should brush up on signs of strokes, how to do basic cpr, stop bleeding and so on, every once in a while.

[paulpauper]

And also, fast food is no that much worse than traditional food anyway. home-made stir fry will have worse calories than a McDonald's chicken burger. homemade pasta is going to be as fattening as any fast food meal. it's just macros in the end. it does not matter where you get them from.

[pixl97]

Eh, 'fast food' has bled over into what you eat daily, hence your conflation of the two.

Your home made stir fry is likely using a bottle of some kind of sauce that is 30% sugar massively increasing its calories.

But conversely your home made stir fry, if using plenty of vegetables, is going to have a much larger amount of fiber than that white bread bun should should reduce your desire to snack.

[pc86]

Nobody who is starving decides to just go through the drive through.

Fast food is convenient, that's it.

[criddell]

Convenient, inexpensive, delicious.

You might personally disagree on any of those points but for enough people it’s true.

[dsego]

I mean, you could say the same about drugs. I don't think people spend their money rationally, there is piss-poor folk spending money on booze and unhealthy diets.

[mrguyorama]

This ignores that the person is only starving because of the horrible things we have allowed capital to do to enrich themselves.

[BizarreByte]

It's questionable how true that is when it comes to human relationships, which is obviously what I was suggesting with the metaphor.

Many people have social issues or mental health issues that cause them to be alone and loneliness is an ever increasing problem due to all kinds of factors beyond one's control. Many people will see AI as better than nothing and get some of their social needs fulfilled via it...some already are.

I don't want to be crass, but likening it to a sex toy except for relationships seems pretty accurate to me. It's fulling a need that otherwise wouldn't be fulfilled.

Ignoring that I mean let's be real for a second, how is an AI fundamentally different than an internet friend you've never met or seen? The humanity of the other person? What if the AI behaves just like a real human would?

[throwuwu]

Starvation was much more common before the rise of capitalism

[cal85]

This analogy is not even wrong. Yes, if someone was suffering starvation I'd give them whatever food was available, but that is not a situation in which we find ourselves ever – it does not occur, nor does the analogous situation occur.

[BizarreByte]

I absolutely does occur and we are an increasingly lonely society to the point it is a serious health concern. There are people with no meaningful social contact and for one reason or another the inability to get it.

[cal85]

What I said does not occur is finding oneself in a situation where someone is about to die and the only available food that can save their life is junk food.

In the analogous situation, someone is just about to die of loneliness and the only available loneliness-solver is chatbots – also something that does not occur.

Yes, in both of these highly improbable situations, saving the life comes above long term health considerations. But that is not a good point.

[imtringued]

Just eat more raw food. That will save time and money.

Screw all the haters. No, we don't have to heat treat every single food. No, the food doesn't have to look like an artwork.

[jrm4]

Hard for me to strongly distinguish this from e.g. following celebrities and today, youtubers et al, for better or worse.