If the cure for the loneliness epidemic is community, through which interpersonal bonds are required, I suppose it is fine if we allow folks to opt out of community and human connection and use chatbots as they would heroin or meth; maxing out dopamine within their tolerances until death. Free will, self determination, and all that. But, we should also be mindful of the second order effects of such policy (the future ending up some combination of internet gaming cafes where people occasionally play so long they die, and "Ready Player One").

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ferguess_k 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Yeah I agree with that, basically genuine choice for all.

BTW I just don't want "deep" bonds, but some sort of bonds is always good. Not sure how "deep" he meant though.

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wara23arish 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

may I ask why?

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busterarm 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

As I get older and see these things play out, I agree less and less. There's a physical toll on your health that gets paid for living a lifestyle like this. Society pays part of the cost of this (at the very least anyone on the same health insurance plan).

I feel icky saying this but we should make a strong effort as a society to stamp out anti-social behaviors. Addictions are very high on that list.

You might think that you can engage this way without being a burden to others, but you can't.

	▲	toomuchtodo 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> I feel icky saying this but we should make a strong effort as a society to stamp out anti-social behaviors. Addictions are very high on that list. GLP-1s can help stamp out addiction, but people are going to be people. You can provide them support, but you cannot prevent chronic, determined self harm and destruction. I speak from personal experience. https://recursiveadaptation.com/p/the-growing-scientific-cas...

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ToucanLoucan 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean experiencing LLM "intimacy" of any sort is just getting to roleplay as a billionare tech CEO isn't it? It's why they're so proud of it, as far as they're concerned, they've perfectly reproduced the real people they encounter: breathless sycophants utterly tripping over themselves to tell them how fucking smart they are for whatever banal shit they've farted out most recently and tell them every idea they have is god working through them to bestow his gifts to mankind.

And for the same reason: they want their fucking money.