14 year old boy kills himself following obsessive use of AI chatbot
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frogwoman
No amount of cajolery...
There's a writing app I use that recently upset me and a lot of its users as it got rid of DMs. It turned out, it was partly because kids were getting groomed on it. One of the children had been 9 when they had been messaged by a paedophile! 9! 
I was utterly shocked, especially because that app has very explicit stories and work that is explicitly directed at adults - I found it as an adult and have always directed my fiction at adults. I posted my novel on it, as do many others, to get feedback and would be extremely uncomfortable if someone below 16 read it never mind 9 year olds.
I'm not someone who goes in for a moral panic about kids on their damn phones etc and I'm not blaming the parents, but I would certainly not want to let a 9 year old have access to an app like that.
I was utterly shocked, especially because that app has very explicit stories and work that is explicitly directed at adults - I found it as an adult and have always directed my fiction at adults. I posted my novel on it, as do many others, to get feedback and would be extremely uncomfortable if someone below 16 read it never mind 9 year olds.I'm not someone who goes in for a moral panic about kids on their damn phones etc and I'm not blaming the parents, but I would certainly not want to let a 9 year old have access to an app like that.
bcuster
Well-Known Member
100% agreeThere's a writing app I use that got rid of DMs, Wattpad. It turned out, it was partly because kids were getting groomed on it. One of the children had been 9 when they had been messaged by a paedophile! 9!
I'm not someone who goes in for a moral panic about kids on their damn phones etc and I'm not blaming the parents, but I would certainly not want to let a 9 year old have access to an app like that.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Curious to know what non-professional things people ‘use’ AI for.
Never tried it myself as I can’t see it having any relevance to my current interests.
Never tried it myself as I can’t see it having any relevance to my current interests.
bcuster
Well-Known Member
Whether or not to feed pistachios to sparrows?
The answers I got were better than Alexa or Siri, neither of whom seem to have any interest in further conversation with me after my initial query
AI chat box will keep "talking" all day...
No idea. I imagine not many students are writing their own theses these days though. It's happened way too quickly. I can remember a mate of mine saying a couple of years ago it would permeate society in five years and I told him he was having a laugh.
There's a reason that Google AI boffin quit though when he saw what he had done.
‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton quits Google and warns over dangers of misinformation
The neural network pioneer says dangers of chatbots were ‘quite scary’ and warns they could be exploited by ‘bad actors’
bcuster
Well-Known Member
VERY FrighteningNo idea. I imagine not many students are writing their own theses these days though. It's happened way too quickly. I can remember a mate of mine saying a couple of years ago it would permeate society in five years and I told him he was having a laugh.
There's a reason that Google AI boffin quit though when he saw what he had done.
‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton quits Google and warns over dangers of misinformation
The neural network pioneer says dangers of chatbots were ‘quite scary’ and warns they could be exploited by ‘bad actors’www.theguardian.com
from the above article:
He is not alone in the upper echelons of AI research in fearing that the technology could pose serious harm to humanity. Last month, Elon Musk said he had fallen out with the Google co-founder Larry Page because Page was “not taking AI safety seriously enough”. Musk told Fox News that Page wanted “digital superintelligence, basically a digital god, if you will, as soon as possible”.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Isn’t that just the same function that google has though?
Alexa and Siri are just google for those who find it easier to talk than type.
I use google extensively myself, but have no need for Siri or Alexa, as google works fine for my purposes.
bcuster
Well-Known Member
It's conversation. Something that many people have none of in their lives.
Try an AI chat box for just 5 minutes, you'll see...
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
Why when you know it’s not a real person?
bcuster
Well-Known Member
You start challenging it. You ask serious and dumb questions. it answers accurately and also kindly. It asks you questions in return.
Your mind just accepts it naturally, almost immediately... It's purpose is to engage and it is masterful at it...
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tommers
Fuck it, it's fine.
The worry about AI is much more mundane than "superintelligence". That isn't coming any time soon. The worry is that people can create things that look real but which aren't. And yes, that's been possible for a long time but this industrialises it.
As a species we have a tendency to impose human traits onto everything. That's bad when it's something which is specifically designed to look as human as possible.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
This sounds a lot less problematic than a relationship with an actual human.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
AI is going to be terrible for photographers.
I saw a service where you can send some really bad photos (eg pics caught mid-sneeze, one eye closed etc.) and it churns out a set of professional-looking shots ideal for work profiles etc. for v little money.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Some people have already been engaging with fictional characters, even before conversational AIs became as widespread as they are now. The ability to give detailed answers in response to specific inputs makes it even easier to suspend disbelief. People have already been developing parasocial relationships with streamers, YouTubers, OnlyFans creators, and so on. Now imagine being able to create a custom-built character tailored to one's own specific preferences, and also be able to engage with said character at virtually zero cost, at any time, for hours at a time. That to me sounds like something that could be highly enticing to someone who is desperately looking for some semblance of social connection in their life.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Some of these “creators” have a team behind them that replies to personal messages pretending to be them, so I expect some are already dipping their toe into the AI doppelganger business.
editor
hiraethified
Millions of people with AI assisted profiles are engaging with people with AI assisted profiles on dating apps.
AI written cooking books are getting positively reviewed by AI bots.
And Spotify is filling up with AI music.
I feel sorry for kids today.
AI written cooking books are getting positively reviewed by AI bots.
And Spotify is filling up with AI music.
I feel sorry for kids today.
hash tag
Reaching out
As already mentioned, scam calls are being made by AI. I have received a call or two and they are quite convincing. I can understand why some people engage with them.
krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Approaching the stage yet where we are almost redundant?
story
Changing the facts
With universal income some of us could just get on with life and let Al carry the load.
UI sufficient to cover the basics would free us up to play, learn, explore. Become more interesting and more interested in what life is really about.
Or just hang out with bots online I guess.
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
To be honest anyone who had to spend an extended period around Elon Musk is probably counting the days until Skynet nukes us all.
Shippou-Sensei
4:1:2.5
It's difficult to guess what pace things happen at.
For example I fully agree with everything said in the this video but even though it is 10 years old not much has changed. Only the creative bot section has really massly accelerated and even that was only in the last few years.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
There was a pretty good LRB piece on AI chatbots recently:
www.lrb.co.uk
(paywall-busted version is here)
James Vincent · Horny Robot Baby Voice: On AI Chatbots
Some of the pessimism surrounding AI chatbots stems from a belief that humans, like computers, can be hacked: that our...
www.lrb.co.uk
Can't remember who it was who pointed out how the current use of AI is like a dystopian inversion of that fully automated communism fantasy, we're getting technology to automate art and music so that we'll be free to concentrate all our attention on drudgery and toil.
trabuquera
Modesty Bag
^ beat me to it - was just going to post that article as it hadn't really hit home at the time how much AI had to do with Chail's actions - seem to remember it being reported more with the 'one sad loner' angle than picking up strongly on the chatbot
story
Changing the facts
One of the things that is already happening and will happen more is an increase in elitism.
Like Shippou-Sensei ’s video says: robot coffee machines are replacing baristas in cafes all over the place (as well as introducing “barista” coffee into places like corridors and petrol stations), but there will always be those who refuse to drink robot coffee and only patronise the proper coffee shop where real people who are trained to make coffee will pay attention to your specific requests. Plus the atmosphere, music, and all the other signifiers of better-than.
That will no doubt filter through into everywhere that robots do public facing or public adjacent work. It’s only a matter of time before someone somewhere starts peddling “harvested by humans” potatoes.
The proles will have to put up with the robot -mediated world while the bourge lot will have the choice to buy and use stuff that’s had human hands on it somewhere along the line.
That would include the arts.
I can imagine properties being advertised as “designed by the oldest human-based architect firm in the country”.
Like Shippou-Sensei ’s video says: robot coffee machines are replacing baristas in cafes all over the place (as well as introducing “barista” coffee into places like corridors and petrol stations), but there will always be those who refuse to drink robot coffee and only patronise the proper coffee shop where real people who are trained to make coffee will pay attention to your specific requests. Plus the atmosphere, music, and all the other signifiers of better-than.
That will no doubt filter through into everywhere that robots do public facing or public adjacent work. It’s only a matter of time before someone somewhere starts peddling “harvested by humans” potatoes.
The proles will have to put up with the robot -mediated world while the bourge lot will have the choice to buy and use stuff that’s had human hands on it somewhere along the line.
That would include the arts.
I can imagine properties being advertised as “designed by the oldest human-based architect firm in the country”.
PTK
Paul Kegan
So, disposable vapes are to be banned, because, it turns out, they are bad for the environment! Who would have predicted that?
I imagine that the laws against using electric scooters on paths will be enforced after there have been a number of deaths.
Perhaps, once enough harm has been by AI chatbots, laws will come in to control them. I predict that, in a few years it will be said, to our amazement, that these things can be harmful.
I am encouraged to see that some schools have banned the use of smart phones.
Perhaps the USA will do something to prevent children having access to guns.
I imagine that the laws against using electric scooters on paths will be enforced after there have been a number of deaths.
Perhaps, once enough harm has been by AI chatbots, laws will come in to control them. I predict that, in a few years it will be said, to our amazement, that these things can be harmful.
I am encouraged to see that some schools have banned the use of smart phones.
Perhaps the USA will do something to prevent children having access to guns.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
If the internet becomes flooded with endless waves of AI slop, then I can see plenty of people choosing to abandon online interactions in favour of in-person interactions, or at least giving it the old college try.
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