this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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[Other] AI “Girlfriends” Prove Modern Men Don’t Think Women Are Human (crisismagazine.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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This article scrutinizes the notion of competition between real women and AI "girlfriend" platforms, which are being increasingly documented by various media outlets. The core argument posits that real women cannot genuinely compete with AI counterparts because the essence and existence of a real woman—encompassing her physicality, sexuality, and humanity—cannot be paralleled by computer simulations. The discussion highlights the absurdity of comparing living beings with virtual entities, underscoring that such comparisons are shallow due to the vast differences between reality and virtual reality.

The critique extends to the societal implications of viewing women as competitors against virtual counterparts, suggesting that this perspective diminishes the intrinsic value and humanity of women. It challenges the notion of equality between women and algorithms, emphasizing the unique qualities of human existence, such as sensation, will, and imagination, which algorithms lack. Furthermore, it points out the irony in an era that claims to advance women's equality, yet entertains the idea of AI girlfriends, thereby negating the progress in recognizing women's humanity.

The article concludes on a reflective note, suggesting that if one acknowledges existence as a victory and competition as only meaningful among equals, then real women inherently triumph over any AI "rival." It calls for a recognition of women's humanity, implicitly critiquing movements that fail to convince of the inherent value and dignity of women beyond superficial comparisons.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Modern Men don't think women are human

Ouch. But not incorrect. Clearly there's a lot of men out there who do not see women as equal and it does feel like that problem is being exacerbated by the internet, growing right-wing movements, and incels just to name a few

However:

The women with real bodies, real sexualities, real existences will never compete with simulated ones, just as movie characters, locked in audiovisual data on clouds, drives, or disks, will never compete on real asphalt against a Jesse Owens or a Serena Williams.

I think this is a really weak point. Robots beat humans at almost every non-physical game at this point and the ones that don't still beat 99.99% of players. For physical games there's several sports where robots already win. Bowling, batting/pitching, darts, and football kicks are all situations where robots beat people. Boston dynamics is constantly showing off their human shaped robot doing better acrobatics than I can do. It's not hard to imagine combing AI speech/thought, a purpose built body, and special engineering to become a convincing simulacrum. Are we there today? No. Do you remember what AI looked like in 2020? We've moved leaps and bounds in less than 1 US presidential term.

Finally:

Computer programs, no matter how sophisticated, will never be the same sort of thing as a real woman. Consequently, real women will never compete with AI “women” as far as actually being a woman is concerned. Comparisons may be made between the two as regards the simulation of physical characteristics and, therefore, sexual attractiveness. But these will never be very deep comparisons because the gulf is so vast.

Never is a very long time. Humans excel at humanizing things that don't even resemble being human. So when you have a program that makes a pretty "lady" who is always available to you and their only desire is your happiness it's not shocking that people view them as surrogates. I also feel the need to point out that while this definitely more prevalent in men there's plenty of stories (mostly in Asian countries as I've seen) of AI boyfriends for women

This seems to be trying to make a philosophical point that people and robots are inherently different and thus any comparison is degrading. I'd argue that some of these robots pass the Turing Test and that argument is far more likely to drive dudes with AI "girlfriends" further down their rabbit hole and away from reality