this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
62 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
37699 readers
260 users here now
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I don't really like the logic of "chatbots like this will help cure loneliness." It might help someone feel less lonely at first. But then it'll be a crutch and, if anything, hurt people's ability to socialize with other real people. Like it's a quick dopamine hit that will slowly dig you deeper into the hole you feel you're in.
Adding on to your comment, I read a really interesting study recently that suggests that interacting with AI engages the social parts of our brains but does not provide the same stimuli/feedback as interacting with a real person leading to increased loneliness and thus increased alcohol abuse and insomnia.
I was wondering. Seemingly, it could teach interaction skills as long as the bot wasn't abnormally accomindating. Maybe it works for some and not others. So, it could be a therapy option. Just needs to be monitored for whether the person uses it to hurt themselves.