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by palmotea 199 days ago
> Frankly, AI boyfriends/girlfriends look a lot healthier to me than a lot of the stuff currently happening with dating at the moment.

Astoundingly unhealthy is still astoundingly unhealthy, even if you compare it to something even worse.
1 comments
gonzobonzo 199 days ago
If there's a widespread and growing heroin epidemic that's already left 1/3 of society addicted, and a small group of people are able to get off of it by switching to cigarettes, I'm not going to start lecturing them about how it's a terrible idea because cigarettes are unhealthy.

Is it ideal? Not at all. But it's certainly a lesser poison.

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palmotea 199 days ago
> If there's a widespread and growing heroin epidemic that's already left 1/3 of society addicted, and a small group of people are able to get off of it by switching to cigarettes, I'm not going to start lecturing them about how it's a terrible idea because cigarettes are unhealthy.

> Is it ideal? Not at all. But it's certainly a lesser poison.

1. I do not accept your premise that a retreat into solipsistic relationships with a sycophantic chatbots is healthier than "the stuff currently happening with dating at the moment." If you want me to believe that, you're going to have to be more specific about what that "stuff" is.

2. Even accepting your premise, it's more like online dating is heroin and AI chatbots are crack cocaine. Is crack a "lesser poison" than heroin? Maybe, but it's still so fucking bad that whatever relative difference is meaningless.

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Quarrelsome 199 days ago
> If you want me to believe that, you're going to have to be more specific about what that "stuff" is.

not the person you were talking to but I think for well over 50% of young men, dating apps are simply an exercise in further reducing one's self worth.

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palmotea 199 days ago
> not the person you were talking to but I think for well over 50% of young men, dating apps are simply an exercise in further reducing one's self worth.

It totally get that, but dating apps != dating. If dating apps don't work, do something else (that isn't a chatbot).

If tech dug you into a hole, tech isn't going to dig you out. It'll only dig you deeper.

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Quarrelsome 199 days ago
> but dating apps != dating

tell that to a world that had devices put infront of them at a young age where dating is tindr.

> If tech dug you into a hole, tech isn't going to dig you out. It'll only dig you deeper.

There are ways to scratch certain itches that insulate one from the negative effects that typically come from the traditional IRL ways of doing so. For people already scarred by mental health issues (possibly in part due to "growing up" using apps) the immediate digital itch scratch is a lot easier, with more predictable outcomes then the arduous IRL path.

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palmotea 199 days ago
> tell that to a world that had devices put infront of them at a young age where dating is tindr.

Their ignorance has no bearing on this discussion.

> There are ways to scratch certain itches that insulate one from the negative effects that typically come from the traditional IRL ways of doing so. For people already scarred by mental health issues (possibly in part due to "growing up" using apps) the immediate digital itch scratch is a lot easier, with more predictable outcomes then the arduous IRL path.

It's pretty obvious that kind of twisted thinking is how someone arrives at "an AI girlfriend sounds like a good idea."

But it doesn't back up the the claim that "AI girlfriends/boyfriends are healthier than online dating." Rather it points to a situation where they're the unhealthy manifestation of an unhealthy cause ("people already scarred by mental health issues (possibly in part due to "growing up" using apps)").

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