Technology

39174 readers

22 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 3 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Can AI make older adults feel less lonely? (techcrunch.com)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

5 comments fedilink hide all child comments

top 5 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I agree with @[email protected] about it having the capacity to make older adults feel less lonely. At the same time, however, I think it seems very dystopian. If someone was feeling sad or depressed we wouldn't say "oh, just chat with this AI until you feel better". So why is it okay to suggest this for older lonely people who are especially vulnerable?

Hell, given what ChatGPT has told people already it might do more harm than good. It's akin to the whole of humanity saying "Yeah, we know you're lonely but getting an actual person to talk to you is too hard. Chat with this bot."

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I agree I think right now the notion is very dystopian and with the current iteration of chatbots it doesn’t seem like a realistic long term solution. But you only have to think a few years down the line when LLMs have been fine tuned for this specific use case and AI is ubiquitous in our society similar to the iPhone now, that you can see how it will become totally normalised.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

And just to be clear I don’t see it as a substitute for human interaction, more of a bolt on that helps people day to day.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think it's dangerous to try to cure loneliness with an AI, regardless of sophistication and tuning, because you end up with human who's been essentially deceived into feeling better. Not only that, but they're going to eventually develop strong emotional attachments to the AI itself. And with capitalism as the driving force of society here in the U.S. I can guarantee you every abusive, unethical practice will become normalized surrounding these AI's too.

I can see it now: "If you cancel your $1,000/a year CompanionGPT we can't be held responsible for what happens to your poor, lonely grandma..." Or it will be even more direct and say the old, lonely person: "Pay $2,500 or we will switch of 'Emotional Support' module on your AI. We accept PayPal."

Saying AI's like this will be normalized doesn't mean it's an ethical thing to do. Medical exploitation is already normalized in the US. Not only is this dystopian, it's downright unconscionable, in my opinion.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Sure, I get that. Ideally people would have access to all the support they could need and a strong base of family and friends to lean on. But isn’t the issue here is that they don’t? I don’t think it’s a cure, I don’t think anyone is saying that. But I do think it could potentially provide a level of support that would alleviate some anxiety. If the alternative is for people to just sit in, let’s say, old folks home and let their brains rot I don’t see how that’s any less unethical than providing them mental stimulation in the form of an AI.