'obedient, Yielding and Happy to Follow': the Troubling Rise of AI Girlfriends

Time in certain movies and tv shows is spent normalising female sex toys, for the same reason.

My experience in America in stark contrast is that I'm ding something outside the social norm. If anything, the onus is on me to prove my motives aren't sinister and frankly it gets exhausting when the few yes's end up with a last min cancellation.

we can certainly argue that social media apps like Tinder set up negative expectations. my experience with Tinder is universally bad no matter what country I go to. But potential downsides of trying to strike up a conversation in these other countries aren't nearly as bad as what I find in America. Milage may be different if you're white (I'm south asian) however.

1. What men think about working out: a picture of a bunch of girls saying things like, “can I touch your biceps.”

2. What working out is actually like: a picture of a bunch of men saying things like, “nice lats bro,” and “what kind of protein do you drink.”

I got a good chuckle. I work out and 2 hits the nail on the head for reality.

[1] https://knowingless.com/

In short, what they say and what they do don't always line up.

EDIT: and thats not to say there aren't plenty of women who have realistic ideas of what to expect from men and do value men who are respectful, help with chores etc while not being george cloony. But they are all happily in relationships so they aren't complaining about men in general either.

That’s after having already accounted for the other requirements. It’s easy to find kind and respectful men if you lower your standards on the less important things.

Maybe to the men we're talking about, 'consuming' the presence of their object of adoration(which is to say, regular porn, or for example more story-driven formats like erotic manga), and shows of dedication(Onlyfans, Twitch streamers) are what they're looking for in a 'relationship', while the AI boyfriend women look more for someone/something that gives them personal attention, something where they really get to bring their 'selves'.

Countries are indeed fictional, and the misplaced belief that they are in some way a natural reality is a significant part of what leads people to start talking about killing each other in the name of their country.

Fictional entities aren't just ubiquitous, they're essential to civilization. Even laws against murder are fictional entities, but I don't think any reasonable person would argue for their elimination on that basis.

The point isn't whether fictional entities exist or not, or that they're all inherently bad or not, it's on maintaining an understanding of what's fictional and what's reality.

Thinking a fictional character on your computer screen is a life relationship partner is a slip away from reality that is surely a mental illness.

All exist only because we believe in them.

You could go to the extreme and say that every relationship exists in two copies. One in the mind of the first member and the other in the mind of the second.

Ai relationships are different because they don’t exist in the mind of the ai. There’s no mind there’s an architecture that does not even attempt to simulate a mind.

I do think the more common usage of the term "fiction" fits these AI uses much better, that is, literature involving imaginary things. It can still evoke real feelings and nudge you towards certain behaviors, but importantly, if you decide to ignore the chatbot, there's no risk of imprisonment by some 3rd party (like if you ignore the social constructs of taxes or national borders).

Perhaps one way to differentiate these is that "singular fictions" impose no obligations to 3rd parties, while "collective fictions" / "social constructs" do?

No, it's not different at all, and that's exactly why I call it a mental illness.

You don't need to be a hero, and you don't need to find a girlfriend in someone who swept right. Go outside! Talk to some woman walking her frikin' dog. Even if she's not single, I bet she knows someone who is.

The human species propagated itself in this way for 10s of thousands of years. You don't need a dating app, you need to get up from the frikin' computer and face the real world.

In human tradition, men have chosen women for their looks, and women have chosen men for their ability to raise their social status. Sad but true, and brutally self serving in a world that has been brutal overall.

If you don't find yourself in possession of the looks, wealth, or social status that cause women to flock to you, try this: look for a woman that expresses interest in you, instead of a woman that somehow meets your ideals of the perfect girlfriend.

I can only say this as a person who spent decades pursuing women based on my ideals, and in the meantime allowed numerous opportunities to escape with women who would have been life long relationship partners.

To paraphrase: If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with...

Bible (2000 years old) is heavily pushing monogamistic relationship from a simple practical reason - horny man is angry man, angry man is aggressive man and a group of aggressive men can completely destroy whole society. Polygamist societies are rare and unstable. If over supply of men is not used for military expansion, then they will collapse society from inside.

You want a dominant partner, maybe an initialy cold guy that hides his passionate heart, or just the sweetest more caring girlfriend in the world...? You can have it, just describing what you want in a simple text prompt.

Now let's jump ahead and imagine something a little more intelligent that adapts to the to user. Maybe 100% caring but just a little cold on specific days... with a little pinch of a fight and the following making up... a perfect storm of emotional adiction (and a lot of money to be made)

I'm both horrified and curious about the future that is coming.