This is a linkpost for https://maximumprogress.substack.com/p/ai-girlfriends

Love and sex are pretty fundamental human motivations, so it's not surprising that they are incorporated into our vision of future technology, including AI.

The release of Digi last week immanentized this vision more than ever before. The app combines a sycophant and flirtatious chat feed with an animated character “that eliminates the uncanny valley, while also feeling real, human, and sexy.” Their marketing material unabashedly promises “the future of AI Romantic Companionship,” though most of the replies are begging them to break their promise and take it back.

Despite the inevitable popularity of AI girlfriends, however, they will not have large counterfactual impact. AI girlfriends and similar services will be popular, but they have close non-AI substitutes which have essentially the same cultural effect on humanity. The trajectory of our culture around romance and sex won’t change much due to AI chatbots.

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First published:
December 23rd, 2023

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pGhpav45PY5CGD2Wp/ai-girlfriends-won-t-matter-much

Linkpost URL:
https://maximumprogress.substack.com/p/ai-girlfriends

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

[Linkpost] “AI Girlfriends Won’t Matter Much” by Maxwell Tabarrok

LessWrong (30+ Karma)