[HN Gopher] AI companions are final stage of digital addiction, ...
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       AI companions are final stage of digital addiction, and lawmakers
       are taking aim
        
       Author : gnabgib
       Score  : 17 points
       Date   : 2025-04-13 18:36 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.technologyreview.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.technologyreview.com)
        
       | droopyEyelids wrote:
       | (Not an AI stan) I would like to see the evidence that the AI
       | contributed to the suicide.
       | 
       | Without seeing the evidence this feels like a cynical attempt to
       | make political hay out of a tragedy.
       | 
       | The person whose AI companion forms their most important social
       | connection is already not doing well psychologically. And from
       | what I've seen, they only offer salubrious advice.
        
       | alganet wrote:
       | It doesn't make any sense.
       | 
       | No one in their right minds would want such a product.
       | 
       | Seems like the industry is too high on their own control
       | fantasies to discern what people want.
        
         | doright wrote:
         | There are a lot of people in their wrong minds, and the
         | industries market to them, intentionally or not. I have been
         | one of them for a time although I somehow resist AI
         | companionship. Companies aren't going to learn the stories of
         | every depressed addict with a rough home life; so long as those
         | addicts throw money at the service they see no issue.
         | 
         | Mental health needs to be addressed before the propensity for
         | someone to be addicted to AI chatbots can develop at all. By
         | the time someone's AI addiction needs to be addressed,
         | something has already gone wrong.
         | 
         | The same goes for tobacco/heroin/gambling/other addictive
         | substances. It's not very different in practice for AI
         | chatbots. It fills a personal void in someone's life. That void
         | is not usually discussed when building up regulatory frameworks
         | to address the symptoms of despair.
        
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       (page generated 2025-04-13 23:02 UTC)