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by jstarfish 945 days ago
You make some good points. I don't agree with them, but they're solid.

> Therefore, the kindest thing they can do is leave the autists alone so they can cope as best they can in peace.

This one, no. I'm probably autistic. It wasn't a diagnosis for anything when I was growing up, I was just weird. I craved connection so badly it compelled me to try to "improve" myself to be more like others. I'd be completely fucked today if someone offered a fake, effortless alternative.

I don't think parasocial relationships are actually working out for anyone. The kids are all miserable, lonely, and have a million mental health issues. Kids used to negotiate their differences and play together. Now each of them thinks they get to set the rules for the entire playground. I'd be lonely and bitter too with that mentality.

> You could argue the AI companies would have an incentive to exploit their users, but this is a thing that happens in real relationships as well!

Sadly, yeah. Your chances of finding a human companion who isn't a piece of shit is way higher than finding an ethical tech company to pour your heart out to though.

1 comments

>I craved connection so badly it compelled me to try to "improve" myself to be more like others. I'd be completely fucked today if someone offered a fake, effortless alternative.

As long as someone makes enough effort to pay the bills and not neglect their health, I don't see why anything more should be necessary. It certainly beats having to adopt hobbies you don't like or learning to lie about your feelings in order to appeal to potential partners (both common pieces of advice for nerdy men).

>I don't think parasocial relationships are actually working out for anyone.

The tech isn't quite there yet, but we've seen immense progress just over the past couple of years.

>Your chances of finding a human companion who isn't a piece of shit is way higher than finding an ethical tech company to pour your heart out to though.

It seems that the solution here, just as with other software, is to make AI companions open source.