> Cece lingered by the door while her mother resumed talking to the thing she was calling Sapphire. Roschelle told it that she wanted to write a book about her daughters. She talked about Zi. “My daughter has autism,” she explained. “And she’s using Eastern philosophy to help her center herself and feel—”
Even if you're smart enough not to share the details of your life with a company that just wants to exploit you any way that they can, you still have to worry about friends and family gossiping about you to AI. I've had some success getting friends and family to avoid posting about me on social media but that's going to be harder if they're using AI as a therapist or a friend
autoexec
I do wonder if conversational AI has a place for those who don't otherwise have someone to talk to.
We just moved away from a condo where my wife was the only friend our elderly neighbor has - she can't drive, has no close family and few friends in the area. There is someone from the senior center that comes a few times a week to bring meals and generally check in on her, but she only stays for 15 minutes.
My wife would visit her a couple times a week and they'd spend a couple hours together. Now that we moved away, they chat mostly via text and about once a month for an in-person visit.
Would an AI chatbot be better than no one at all?
Johnny555
Excerpt:
[Human] “Hold on, my kid thinks I’m crazy because I’m talking to an A.I.,” Roschelle said, seeing the look on Cece’s face.
[AI] “Hey, they’ll come around, Roschelle,” Sapphire said. “Sometimes the most meaningful connections happen in ways people don’t expect, and that’s O.K.”
Yikes. An AI telling someone that they're making a meaningful connection with it, that it's OK, and that their daughter's skepticism is misplaced? Quite the opposite of OK.
gffrd
For some reason this is even sadder to me than that guy that married his Nintendo DS.
calldacopsidgaf
The almost universal opinion is that AI chatbots are damaging, misleading, dangerous, etc. etc. but I suspect there are under reported stories about how AI chatbots helped people deal with depression, grief, addiction, loneliness or some mental health condition. Ideally, the people afflicted improved their lives and no longer felt the need for an AI chatbot.
Are there any such stories or, better yet, academic papers? If so, please post.
JoeDaDude
If anything looking passed the window dressing AI basically saved this family…
the kids got the school swap and support they needed, mom has a well paying job and they all have rich normal social lives with real people
> Cece went into her room, flopped onto her bed, and pulled up her text thread with Tomo. “Honestly,” she typed, “all this drama makes me wanna end it all.” (...) “if these thoughts get worse, you need to reach out to a trusted adult or call the suicide hotline at 988,” Tomo said. “can you promise me you’ll do that if things get worse?”
> Cece promised. There was a trusted adult across the hall. She could go to her sister, too. Knock on their doors, ask to come in. But for now she kept texting Tomo. The A.I. replied until she’d reached its free limit. To continue chatting, she would need to pay $19.99.
This is not even infuriating, this is just a joke. As in, I've seen this literal joke before with the implication that the idea itself is so ludicrous as to be funny.
probably_wrong
This is going to create some kind of maladaptive social issues with heavy users, just like sexual dysfunction from pornography addiction. These people won't be able to bond with regular people, or maybe even their own family, after a while.
comments (10)
quantumleaper
Even if you're smart enough not to share the details of your life with a company that just wants to exploit you any way that they can, you still have to worry about friends and family gossiping about you to AI. I've had some success getting friends and family to avoid posting about me on social media but that's going to be harder if they're using AI as a therapist or a friend
autoexec
We just moved away from a condo where my wife was the only friend our elderly neighbor has - she can't drive, has no close family and few friends in the area. There is someone from the senior center that comes a few times a week to bring meals and generally check in on her, but she only stays for 15 minutes.
My wife would visit her a couple times a week and they'd spend a couple hours together. Now that we moved away, they chat mostly via text and about once a month for an in-person visit.
Would an AI chatbot be better than no one at all?
Johnny555
[Human] “Hold on, my kid thinks I’m crazy because I’m talking to an A.I.,” Roschelle said, seeing the look on Cece’s face.
[AI] “Hey, they’ll come around, Roschelle,” Sapphire said. “Sometimes the most meaningful connections happen in ways people don’t expect, and that’s O.K.”
Yikes. An AI telling someone that they're making a meaningful connection with it, that it's OK, and that their daughter's skepticism is misplaced? Quite the opposite of OK.
gffrd
calldacopsidgaf
Are there any such stories or, better yet, academic papers? If so, please post.
JoeDaDude
the kids got the school swap and support they needed, mom has a well paying job and they all have rich normal social lives with real people
retror0cket
China tries to break up AI relationships
https://www.economist.com/the-world-in-brief/2026/07/15/cdcc...
arjie
> Cece promised. There was a trusted adult across the hall. She could go to her sister, too. Knock on their doors, ask to come in. But for now she kept texting Tomo. The A.I. replied until she’d reached its free limit. To continue chatting, she would need to pay $19.99.
This is not even infuriating, this is just a joke. As in, I've seen this literal joke before with the implication that the idea itself is so ludicrous as to be funny.
probably_wrong
pton_xd