TL;DR I think people turning to machines and AI for companionship is just an extension of the “Lipstick Effect” observed during the Great Depression.
Listening to Christopher west and Matt discuss AI, it strikes me as missing the mark the same way anyone who never experienced internet dating discussing dating.
I don’t think they’re wrong necessarily, but they discuss AI being a replica person and giving you affirmations the same way porn gives affirmations sexually. And I do think they’re correct about this point, it’s a good insight.
However, what I believe they have wrong is WHY people find these things appealing. Matt has also discussed “is social media corrosive to society”. I think the discussion puts the cart before the horse. The idea assumes a prestine, thriving society that’s ripe with all the goods you can have which is then corrupted by the evil social media/porn/AI.
My observation is that order is backwards, society failed first and this failed society is corrosive on the human psyche. This has then worn people down to accept lesser or even fake versions of things. Not as better options, but in an “all that’s left” mentality.
West and Fradd, as well as others like Knowles and Walsh, always discuss dating and AI amd other such topics as though there’s a fully stocked supermarket or fresh healthy options. That there’s endless and bountiful supplies of friendship, relationship, potential spouses, companions and whatnot just there for the taking everywhere you look. And if you don’t have a wife or a community, clearly it’s because you just don’t think marriage or community is a good option and in your ignorance you think porn and AI is a substitute of equal caliber. You’re choosing McDonnalds over a 4 star steak and lobster feast. Because you simply think McDonnalds is better and you’re confused.
I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who thinks this.
What I’ve seen is that it’s a wasteland out there and these things, porn, social media, AI companionship, people aren’t picking them because they think they’re better or even equal. I don’t know a single guy who watches porn that wouldn’t RATHER have a real girlfriend. The issue is they don’t believe it’s possible. People are picking McDonalds over steak and lobster because the steakhouse was burned to the ground and the ashes are still smoldering and McDonald’s is all that’s open.
It’s an ultimate version of the lipstick effect seen during the Great Depression. When people saw the world collapsing lipstick sales went up. Not because people suddenly valued beauty, but because they believed everything was garbage and I might as well grasp some small enjoyment where I can because true fulfilling meaning and enjoyment is no longer a real option.
I just can’t get over the way anyone over 35 says “real people are better than AI” as though the rest of us are just unevolved creatures in Plato’s cave, to ignorant to have ever thought of this. The answer is no, you don’t need to convince anyone the real deal is better. Everyone knows that. You need, instead, to show people how to actually achieve the real thing. In a world where I can count on 2 hands the high school friends I know who had married parents and STILL have the same 2 married parents.
Anyone who’s read this far, were any of you ever even slightly convinced that the fake and virtual was better than real? Because I’ve never met anyone who was. Only people who believed the real was impossible to achieve and so they settled for virtual.
To be clear, I’m not saying these things are valid alternatives to the real thing. I’m simply saying that anyone older than 35 is just wrong about why these things are appealing.
