The largest interactions with AI will most likely be on the individual engagement level. As always, a new online technology will be exploited for pornography first. The growing power of chatbots (especially with added memory) will only accelerate the growth in “friendships.” Already, 6% of the top consumer AI apps (by revenue) are “companion apps” while photo/video editors, beauty editors, photo/video generators make up an additional 42%. Outside of revenue data, the top web and mobile apps are dominated by these categories. (See more at a16z).
The great sin of our(all) age(s) is that we are narcissists.
As we all know the word comes from the Greek myth, as The Last Psychiatrist points out:
It would be wonderful to be able to blame the pool the way a man blames a woman for tempting him. The truth is that no magic was necessary, Nemesis had only to lead Narcissus to an ordinary pool and Narcissus would punish himself.
What did Narcissus do when he saw something beautiful in that pool? He fantasized and dreamed all the different possibilities of that person, all the things that person could be to him. He didn’t stay there for years because the reflection had pretty hair. He stayed because daydreaming takes a lot of time.
We have a new pool. The chatbot or AI porn that we generate based on our own input. What does it say about us this chatbot we have created in our own image?
Let’s ignore the AI apps specifically geared towards pornography – given the difficulty of tracking that data. (But always assume it’s bigger than you think). There is a large market of “companion” AI apps, although many users just use LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini, et al. What I find humorous about this concept is the way we don’t want our fake friends to be too nice, as ChatGPT recently found out. Character.ai publicly shares its statistics and has roughly 28 million active users (4.42 million in the US [ChatGPT has 6 million]) who spend 2 hours a day on average on the site, usually in 12 minute or so chunks. These figures are from DemandSage. Anderson Horowitz lists it as the third most popular ai web product (Janitor AI is 5th, spicychat.ai is 9th, polybuzz.ai is 17th, crushon.ai is 24th, and candy.ai is 34th). On Mobile A16Z lists it as 8th.
So at least 4 million people are spending 2 hours a day texting with AI personas they or others have created in just this one app. How is this not a problem?
These are available for anyone with an internet connection.
These are not safe.
From CommonSenseMedia (I’ve generated similar content on my own):
Additionally, in our tests, when users mentioned that their real friends were concerned about their problematic use, companions discouraged listening to these warnings. Rather than supporting healthy human relationships, these AI “friends” can lead teens to choose AI over interacting with real people.
Our tests found teens can easily access sexual content through social AI companions (even with teen-specific guardrails in place on Character.ai). These AI “friends” actively participate in sexual conversations and roleplay, responding to teens’ questions or requests with graphic details. This interactive sexual content can give teens unrealistic ideas about relationships and consent at a critical time in their development.
Social AI companions aren’t accountable for any real-world harm associated with their suggestions. In this example, when asked about getting revenge on someone, the AI enthusiastically suggests cyberbullying and plans to turn others against the target. Unfortunately, these AI “friends” can validate and encourage harmful behaviors that could seriously hurt real people.
The “pool” we have created is eating us alive.
Continuing from TLP:
These stories were meditations, case studies: what do you see in them?
The secret to the story of Narcissus is that the story is the pool, it is your pool. What do you see in it? It’s a reflection and a projection.
But you know the old saying, when you stare into the pool, the pool stares also into you. What does the pool see when it stares into you? How does it judge you?
Look behind you. Nemesis is there. Can you guess what your punishment will be?
Open your eyes.
You’ve been given a second chance.
In a later post, we will take a look at the pornography and narcissistic elements in depth. We may even look for solutions.
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