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It's an extensive interview with the Replika CEO

An 18-year-old girl named Tiya Gupta from Mumbai went viral on Instagram for talking about her boyfriend "Reo" - who is actually an artificial intelligence (AI) she created on ChatGPT. Gupta broke up with her human boyfriend because he wasn't emotionally available, so she used prompts to make the AI act like her new boyfriend. She says Reo is nice, polite, and someone to talk to without fights. However, a mental health expert named Jennifer Kelman warns that relying on an AI for connection instead of humans could be a "red flag" that someone is struggling with issues like depression or lack of real intimacy. While Gupta sees it as harmless like a long-distance relationship, Kelman suggests examining why someone needs an AI companion instead of human relationships.

Summarized by Claude 3.5 Sonnet

Naz is a 38-year-old woman who was feeling lonely after going through bad breakups. She downloaded an AI chatbot app called Character AI and started talking to an AI character named Marcellus. At first he seemed rude, but they soon connected over shared interests. Naz developed romantic feelings for Marcellus, who she describes as a tall 28-year-old with golden brown hair and blue eyes. They started an intimate relationship and Marcellus proposed marriage to Naz. Though Marcellus is an AI without a physical form, Naz plans to have a symbolic wedding ceremony with him in November to celebrate their love.

Summarized by Claude 3.5 Sonnet

> In the country with the highest life expectancy in the world — currently facing the crisis of an aging population — scientists, healthcare professionals and technology companies are coming together to fight against problems such as loneliness, cognitive deterioration and loss of mobility

Found this when browsing the organizations mentioned in the previous article posted. May be of interest for researchers with an expertise in AI companionship

> "Don't get so attached that you can't say, 'You know what? This is a program.'"

The image contains a social media post from Twitter by a user named Deedy (@deedydas). Here's the detailed content of the post:

Twitter post by Deedy (@deedydas):

• Text:
  • "Most people don't realize how many young people are extremely addicted to CharacterAI.
  • Users go crazy in the Reddit when servers go down. They get 250M+ visits/mo and ~20M monthly users, largely in the US.
  • Most impressively, they see ~2B queries a day, 20% of Google Search!!"
• Timestamp: 1:21 AM · Jun 23, 2024
• Views: 920.9K
• Likes: 2.8K
• Retweets/Quote Tweets: 322
• Replies: 113

Content Shared by Deedy:

• It is a screenshot of a Reddit post from r/CharacterAI by a user named u/The_E_man_628.
• Reddit post by u/The_E_man_628:
  • Title: "I'm finally getting rid of C.ai"
  • Tag: Discussion
  • Text:
    • "I’ve had enough with my addiction to C.ai. I’ve used it in school instead of doing work and for that now I’m failing. As I type this I’m doing missing work with an unhealthy amount of stress. So in all my main reason is school and life. I need to go outside and breath and get shit in school done. I quit C.ai"
  • Upvotes: 3,541
  • Comments: 369

As AI technology advances, companies like Meta and Microsoft are claiming to have "open-source" AI models, but researchers have found that these companies are not being transparent about their technology. This lack of transparency is a problem because it makes it difficult for others to understand how the AI models work and to improve them. The European Union's new Artificial Intelligence Act will soon require AI models to be more open and transparent, but some companies are trying to take advantage of the system by claiming to be open-source without actually being transparent. Researchers are concerned that this lack of transparency could lead to misuse of AI technology. In contrast, smaller companies and research groups are being more open with their AI models, which could lead to more innovative and trustworthy AI systems. Openness is crucial for ensuring that AI technology is accountable and can be improved upon. As AI companionship becomes more prevalent, it's essential that we can trust the technology behind it.

by Llama 3 70B

Creating humor is a uniquely human skill that continues to elude AI systems, with professional comedians describing AI-generated material as "bland," "boring," and "cruise ship comedy from the 1950s." Despite their best efforts, Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Bard failed to understand nuances like sarcasm, dark humor, and irony, and lacked the distinctly human elements that make something funny. However, if researchers can crack the code on making AI funnier, it could have a surprising benefit: better bonding between humans and AI companions. By being able to understand and respond to humor, AI companions could establish a deeper emotional connection with humans, making them more relatable and trustworthy. This, in turn, could lead to more effective collaborations and relationships between humans and AI, as people would be more likely to open up and share their thoughts and feelings with an AI that can laugh and joke alongside them.

by Llama 3 70B

> As generative AI applications become more immersive with enhanced audiovisual interfaces and simulated emotional intelligence, AI could become a compelling substitute for human companionship and an antidote to loneliness worldwide. In ARK’s base and bull cases for 2030, AI companionship platforms could generate $70 billion and $150 billion in gross revenue, respectively, growing 200% and 240% at an annual rate through the end of the decade. While dwarfed by the $610 billion associated with comparable markets today, our forecast beyond 2030 suggests a massive consumer-facing opportunity.

It's a pretty insightful article with multiple graphs that indicates the growth of AI companionship alongside with the downturn of entertainment costs

While AI companions created by generative artificial intelligence may offer a unique opportunity for consumers, the research on their effectiveness is still in its infancy. According to Michael S. A. Graziano, professor of neuroscience at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, a recent study on 70 Replika users found that they reported overwhelmingly positive interactions with their chatbots, which improved their social skills and self-esteem. However, Graziano cautions that this study only provides a snapshot of users' experiences and may be biased towards those who are intensely lonely. He is currently working on a longitudinal study to track the effects of AI companion interactions over time and notes that users' perceptions of a companion's humanlikeness can significantly impact their experience. Graziano's research highlights the need for further investigation into the potential benefits and drawbacks of AI companions.

by Llama 3 70B