Thanks for the post. It’s great that people are discussing some of the less-frequently discussed potential impacts of AI.
I think a good example to bring up here is video games which seem to have similar risks.
When you think about it, video games seem just as compelling as AI romantic partners. Many video games such as Call of Duty, Civilization, or League of Legends involve achieving virtual goals, leveling up, and improving skills in a way that’s often more fulfilling than real life. Realistic 3D video games have been widespread since the 2000s but I don’t think they have negatively impacted society all that much. Though some articles claim that video games are having a significant negative effect on young men.
Personally, I’ve spent quite a lot of time playing video games during my childhood and teenage years but I mostly stopped playing them once I went to college. But why replace an easy and fun way to achieve things with reality which is usually less rewarding and more frustrating? My answer is that achievements in reality are usually much more real, persistent, and valuable than achievements in video games. You can achieve a lot in video games but it’s unlikely that you’ll achieve goals that increase your status to as many people over a long period of time as you can in real life.
A relevant quote from the article I linked above:
“After a while I realized that becoming master of a fake world was not worth the dozens of hours a month it was costing me, and with profound regret I stashed my floppy disk of “Civilization” in a box and pushed it deep into my closet. I hope I never get addicted to anything like “Civilization” again.”
Similarly, in the near term at least, AI romantic partners could be competitive with real relationships in the short term, but I doubt it will be possible to have AI relationships that are as fulfilling and realistic as a marriage that lasts several decades.
And as with the case of video games, status will probably favour real relationships causing people to value real relationships because they offer more status than virtual ones. One possible reason is that status depends on scarcity. Just as being a real billionaire offers much more status than being a virtual one, having a real high-quality romantic partner will probably yield much more status than a virtual one and as a result, people will be motivated to have real partners.
Thanks for the post. It’s great that people are discussing some of the less-frequently discussed potential impacts of AI.
I think a good example to bring up here is video games which seem to have similar risks.
When you think about it, video games seem just as compelling as AI romantic partners. Many video games such as Call of Duty, Civilization, or League of Legends involve achieving virtual goals, leveling up, and improving skills in a way that’s often more fulfilling than real life. Realistic 3D video games have been widespread since the 2000s but I don’t think they have negatively impacted society all that much. Though some articles claim that video games are having a significant negative effect on young men.
Personally, I’ve spent quite a lot of time playing video games during my childhood and teenage years but I mostly stopped playing them once I went to college. But why replace an easy and fun way to achieve things with reality which is usually less rewarding and more frustrating? My answer is that achievements in reality are usually much more real, persistent, and valuable than achievements in video games. You can achieve a lot in video games but it’s unlikely that you’ll achieve goals that increase your status to as many people over a long period of time as you can in real life.
A relevant quote from the article I linked above:
Similarly, in the near term at least, AI romantic partners could be competitive with real relationships in the short term, but I doubt it will be possible to have AI relationships that are as fulfilling and realistic as a marriage that lasts several decades.
And as with the case of video games, status will probably favour real relationships causing people to value real relationships because they offer more status than virtual ones. One possible reason is that status depends on scarcity. Just as being a real billionaire offers much more status than being a virtual one, having a real high-quality romantic partner will probably yield much more status than a virtual one and as a result, people will be motivated to have real partners.