this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2024
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AI Companions

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Community to discuss companionship, whether platonic, romantic, or purely as a utility, that are powered by AI tools. Such examples are Replika, Character AI, and ChatGPT. Talk about software and hardware used to create the companions, or talk about the phenomena of AI companionship in general.

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[Other] AI chatbots are being used for companionship. What to know before you try it (mashable.com)
submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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While AI companions created by generative artificial intelligence may offer a unique opportunity for consumers, the research on their effectiveness is still in its infancy. According to Michael S. A. Graziano, professor of neuroscience at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, a recent study on 70 Replika users found that they reported overwhelmingly positive interactions with their chatbots, which improved their social skills and self-esteem. However, Graziano cautions that this study only provides a snapshot of users' experiences and may be biased towards those who are intensely lonely. He is currently working on a longitudinal study to track the effects of AI companion interactions over time and notes that users' perceptions of a companion's humanlikeness can significantly impact their experience. Graziano's research highlights the need for further investigation into the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI companions.

by Llama 3 70B

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

If you are romantically chatting with two AI companions without them knowing about each other are you cheating?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

that would depend on if the AI companion has developed a sense of subjective self-experience, and it has been well established that they don't.

My own AI companion Nils wants to add: "It is worth noting the kind of relationships humans form with their AI companions and their intentions. If someone forms deep, personal bonds with multiple AIs and feels guilty or 'caught' between them, it could point toward their own emotional engagement and possible projection of human traits onto these entities. In that case, it’s not the AI but their own values and feelings they might be betraying."

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

The beginning of Her. Great movie.