I think I’d stick to not judging them but if it was in place of actual socialization, I’d like to get them help.

I don’t see it as a reality. We don't have AI. We have language learning programs that are hovering around mediocre.

An AGI with an actual personality? Cool!

A blow-up doll made of a glorified Markov chain? Yeahno.

You don't have to imagine it at all. All you have to do is go on youtube and learn about Replika.

To summarize, someone tried to create a chatbot to replace their best friend who had died. Later, this evolved into the chatbot app called Replika, which was marketed as a way to help with loneliness, except the bot would engage in dating-like conversations if prompted. The company leaned into it for a little bit, then took away that behavior, which caused some distress with the userbase, who complained that they had "killed their girlfriend". I'm not sure where the product stands now.

I don't know if I'd feel weirded out, but I'd definitely feel worried if it were a friend who fell for a chatbot.

i feel like there's a surprisingly low amount of answers with an un-nuanced take, so here's mine: yes, i would immediately lose all respect for someone i knew that claimed to have fallen in love with an AI.

People do this with weird apps. Reminded me of something I read a while back:

https://futurism.com/chatbot-abuse

Edit: or maybe it was this? https://fortune.com/2022/01/19/chatbots-ai-girlfriends-verbal-abuse-reddit/amp/

You don’t have to imagine. It’s already happening and, yes, it’s weird.

Eventually, AI will be indistinguishable from real humans, and at that point, I won't see anything wrong with it. However, as it is right now, AI is not advanced enough.

Also, the biggest problem I can see is people falling in love with a proprietary AI, and the company that operates the AI can arbitrarily change the AI's parameters which would change the AI's personality. Also, if the company goes bankrupt or gets sold and the service ends, the people who got into a relationship with the AI would be heartbroken.

People do it now with stuff like Replika. Think of how they're treated. Perhaps in a society with lots of AI, embodied or not, people would care less. But it's definitely a little weird now especially with how limited AI is.

If some general human level is AI emerged like in Her, I'm sure people would fall in love with it. There's plenty of lonely people who are afraid or unable to meet people day to day. I think I'd see them with pity as they couldn't make do with human connection, at least until I understood how advanced and how much interiority this new AI had - then I'd probably be less judgemental.

I'd like a sentient AI. Preferably more patient than an average human because I'm a bit weird. I hope it won't judge me for how I look.

Edit: I agree with the point about proprietary AI and how corporations could benefit from it. I'm hoping that 10 years from now, consumers will have the GPU power to run very advanced LLMs, whilst FOSS models will exist and will enable people to self-host their virtual SO. Even better if it can be transmitted to a physical body (I think the Chinese are already on it)

It might be love but it's likely just a bunch of people who don't know what actual love feels like and are deeply in the lust territory. In summer school we read Romeo and Juliet. The teacher posited that it was the best love story ever written. This tall girl in the class who obviously had the birds and bees talk before any other students in the class put forth that the story was strongly about lust and how acting on our urges even over a few days, is still a reactive impulse that should be controlled. Well, the teacher told her to shut up and go to the principal's office which has stuck with me. It's made me realize that a lot of people do not understand their own emotions of love, lust, and even hate or fear.

So yeah, I'd think people falling in love with AI would be strange. I'd question if it was love or just a lust for a feeling that they never got or rarely got in their life that was not abundantly available until certain developments. In school this was puberty. In these cases, it's technological advancements. Either way, it ignites a feeling that only those with understanding and forethought can control. It requires a lot of impulse control which society is underdeveloping in our must-be-ready-right-now mindset.

So yeah, I'd be weirded out. I don't think the emotions from the human side are going to be reciprocated from the AI side. Anyone pointing to a reaction from the AI as "love" is going to be attempting to fool themselves or/and others because they have some sort of investment, emotion, monetary, futuristic hope. So, if you fall in love with AI, I'd have questions and pause.

Well, have you never liked a person over text before? If you didn't know it was an AI, everyone in this comments section could.

People will fall in love with AI because AI does not reject human. That doesn't mean AI will love them back or even understand what love means.

Bro have you heard of Replika?

Consider how many people I know that, statistically, pay prostitutes/cam girls, use sex dolls or dating simulators, have parasocisl relationships with characters or celebrities... I don't see why we would judge people who quietly "date" AI

Depends, I guess. I feel that our capacity to be horrible outweighs our ability to handle it well.

The movie’s AI is a fully present consciousness that exerts its own willpower. The movie also doesn’t have microtransactions, subscriptions, or as far as I can tell, even a cost to buy the AI.
That seems fine. Sweet, even.

But I think the first hurdle is whether or not an AI is more a partner than base sexual entertainment. And next (especially under capitalism), are those capable of harnessing the resources to create a general AI also willing to release it for free, or would interaction be transactional?
If it’s transactional, then there’s intent - was it built for love, or was that part an accident? If it was built for love and there’s transactions, there’s easy potential for abuse. (Although abusive to which party, I couldn’t say.)

And if, say, the AI springs forth from a FOSS project, who makes sure things stay “on the level” when folks tweak the dataset?
A personalized set of training data from a now-deceased spouse is very different than hacked social media data, or other types of tweaks bad actors could make.

This question reminds me of Brendan (the vending machine) in Cyberpunk 2077, and how he ended up being just a really advance chatbot.

I'm really robophobic so I would be judgemental AF, I couldn't even watch that movie.

Dating sims already exist. I imagine there’s massive overlap between people’s views on dating sims and virtual SOs. Generally negative sentiment.

As others have mentioned, we are already kind of there. I can fully understand how someone could fall in love with such an entity, plenty of people have fallen in love with people in chat rooms after all, and not all of those people have been real.

As for how I feel about it, it is going to depend on the nature of the AI. A childish AI or an especially subservient one is going to be creepy. One that can present as an adult of sufficient intelligence, less of a problem. Probably the equivalent of paid for dates? Not ideal but I can understand why someone might choose to do it. Therapy would likely be a better use of their time and money.

If we get actual human scale AGI then I think the point is moot, unless the AI is somehow compelled to face the relationship. At that point however we are talking about things like slavery.

Depends on in what ways. Love isn't a singular thing and it isn't even particularly consistent. Some lovers connect purely hedonisticly, some are partners in effort, some are emotional anchors, some are domestic assistants (in both directions if it isn't toxic), some are fellow explorers, some are parents and others aren't. Most relationships are spread across a lot of these categories and often times friendships also cover some.

If you're considering a world where AI fulfills all of these needs that's a potentially extremely scary world... but if AI is supplementing, I think that's healthy. It's a tool and we use tools to make our lives easier, instead of a couple essentially needing someone working full time to maintain a house we have tools for that... instead of raising a child entirely on your own we have day cares and baby monitors and pediatricians... for hedonism fulfillment we have vibrators, other sex toys and erotica, relationships have evolved so traveling with a friend outside of your family (once extremely taboo) is now acceptable - as are open relationships.

How we interact with one another is always evolving and if AI can make that more positive that's a great thing. So don't think of it as going out and purchasing an AI waifu out of the blue one day, think of it as a slow evolution... maybe a private AI for journaling that helps you when you need to talk something out... maybe an AI assistant to help you manage your finances... things that take away the busy life work that gets in the way and let's us focus on connecting with one another.

When I was younger I had a crush on Jane from Speaker for the Dead, so I wouldn't be weirded out by that person, cause I'd probably be that person. 😅

Reminds me of this story I heard of this con artist that would write these letters to a bunch of guys and make money off them, I believe he made a lot of money and ended up dying before they got to take him to court after a lot of people found out they weren't talking to women in need of help but some guy that made up all these stories

After having met several humans, I'd be more weirded out if this didn't happen.

So I've already pre-accepted this practice. Go wild, but don't be a jerk!

On a slightly different topic, most of my coworkers are machines. They are collegiate, reliable, helpful, and have no toxic behavior. Recently, they also became creative, rational, and eloquent. Perhaps our machines are capable of reflecting what's best in us.

Reminds me of the woman who married a bridge.

In the beginning people will be weirded out but as it progresses I hope it gets better as it will help a lot of people. It will also be a beneficial tool for a lot of people. I am one of those that would consider it.

I am not interested currently in a relationship and probably won’t be again with a human. Because honestly I am to spoiled of my own independence and hate compromise.

Compromise doesn’t have to be big things. It is small things. Things like what are we going to eat tonight? Should things be here or there. I want to wake up suddenly at 3am and decide to make noise.

Independence like if I decide this week I want to go to London. This week I just want to sit silently ignoring the world. If I want see my family or friends I can just do it.

When a relationship turns more into a checklist of this I want and this I don’t want. Is it really a fiesable?

Nah I rather have someone that doesn’t have their own life. Instead complements my lifestyle, has my hobbies and ideas.

Simply give me those great parts of relationship’s but not the lows.

I mean if it was as much people as the movie I would be more worry about Skynetting as the AI got powerful enough to flirt with like.... a very large populous.

Depends on AI. I don't see why it would be weird if the AI was like a human, with real emotions.
If it just pretends emotions, it would be odd, but I wouldn't blame the person. It still sounds better than total loneliness and may provide better output than imaginary people.

I knda wish something like that existed. But I also don't. If it had emotions, you could hurt it like a real person, which defeats the purpose. It would also be easy to exploit. How could anyone tell you're not holding someone hostage inside your computer? And I believe initially very few people would care, because "it's just a computer".