this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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[–] N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com 241 points 4 days ago (7 children)

people tend to become dependent upon AI chatbots when their personal lives are lacking. In other words, the neediest people are developing the deepest parasocial relationship with AI

Preying on the vulnerable is a feature, not a bug.

[–] Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world 63 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I kind of see it more as a sign of utter desperation on the human's part. They lack connection with others at such a high degree that anything similar can serve as a replacement. Kind of reminiscent of Harlow's experiment with baby monkeys. The videos are interesting from that study but make me feel pretty bad about what we do to nature. Anywho, there you have it.

[–] graphene@lemm.ee 28 points 3 days ago (2 children)

And the amount of connections and friends the average person has has been in free fall for decades...

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[–] glibg@lemmy.ca 123 points 3 days ago (8 children)
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[–] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 83 points 4 days ago (8 children)

But how? The thing is utterly dumb. How do you even have a conversation without quitting in frustration from it's obviously robotic answers?

But then there's people who have romantic and sexual relationships with inanimate objects, so I guess nothing new.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 53 points 4 days ago (5 children)

If you're also dumb, chatgpt seems like a super genius.

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[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 44 points 4 days ago

In some ways, it's like Wikipedia but with a gigantic database of the internet in general (stupidity included). Because it can string together confident-sounding sentences, people think it's this magical machine that understands broad contexts and can provide facts and summaries of concepts that take humans lifetimes to study.

It's the conspiracy theorists' and reactionaries' dream: you too can be as smart and special as the educated experts, and all you have to do is ask a machine a few questions.

[–] Opinionhaver@feddit.uk 31 points 3 days ago (7 children)

How do you even have a conversation without quitting in frustration from it’s obviously robotic answers?

Talking with actual people online isn’t much better. ChatGPT might sound robotic, but it’s extremely polite, actually reads what you say, and responds to it. It doesn’t jump to hasty, unfounded conclusions about you based on tiny bits of information you reveal. When you’re wrong, it just tells you what you’re wrong about - it doesn’t call you an idiot and tell you to go read more. Even in touchy discussions, it stays calm and measured, rather than getting overwhelmed with emotion, which becomes painfully obvious in how people respond. The experience of having difficult conversations online is often the exact opposite. A huge number of people on message boards are outright awful to those they disagree with.

Here’s a good example of the kind of angry, hateful message you’ll never get from ChatGPT - and honestly, I’d take a robotic response over that any day.

I think these people were already crazy if they’re willing to let a machine shovel garbage into their mouths blindly. Fucking mindless zombies eating up whatever is big and trendy.

[–] musubibreakfast@lemm.ee 19 points 3 days ago

Hey buddy, I've had enough of you and your sensible opinions. Meet me in the parking lot of the Wallgreens on the corner of Coursey and Jones Creek in Baton Rouge on april 7th at 10 p.m. We're going to fight to the death, no holds barred, shopping cart combos allowed, pistols only, no scope 360, tag team style, entourage allowed.

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[–] glitchdx@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago

The fact that it's not a person is a feature, not a bug.

openai has recently made changes to the 4o model, my trusty goto for lore building and drunken rambling, and now I don't like it. It now pretends to have emotions, and uses the slang of brainrot influencers. very "fellow kids" energy. It's also become a sicophant, and has lost its ability to be critical of my inputs. I see these changes as highly manipulative, and it offends me that it might be working.

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[–] Zip2@feddit.uk 83 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I couldn’t be bothered to read the article, so I got ChatGPT to summarise it. Apparently there’s nothing to worry about.

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 62 points 4 days ago (3 children)

those who used ChatGPT for "personal" reasons — like discussing emotions and memories — were less emotionally dependent upon it than those who used it for "non-personal" reasons, like brainstorming or asking for advice.

That’s not what I would expect. But I guess that’s cuz you’re not actively thinking about your emotional state, so you’re just passively letting it manipulate you.

Kinda like how ads have a stronger impact if you don’t pay conscious attention to them.

[–] Siegfried@lemmy.world 30 points 3 days ago (9 children)

AI and ads... I think that is the next dystopia to come.

Think of asking chatGPT about something and it randomly looks for excuses* to push you to buy coca cola.

[–] cardfire@sh.itjust.works 18 points 3 days ago (2 children)

That sounds really rough, buddy, I know how you feel, and that project you're working is really complicated.

Would you like to order a delicious, refreshing Coke Zero™️?

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[–] EaterOfLentils@lemmy.world 60 points 3 days ago (1 children)

New mental illness boutta drop.

[–] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago

Bath Salts GPT

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 48 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Wake me up when you find something people will not abuse and get addicted to.

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[–] MTK@lemmy.world 48 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I know a few people who are genuinely smart but got so deep into the AI fad that they are now using it almost exclusively.

They seem to be performing well, which is kind of scary, but sometimes they feel like MLM people with how pushy they are about using AI.

[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 31 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Most people don't seem to understand how "dumb" ai is. And it's scary when i read shit like that they use ai for advice.

[–] piecat@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago (2 children)

People also don't realize how incredibly stupid humans can be. I don't mean that in a judgemental or moral kind of way, I mean that the educational system has failed a lot of people.

There's some % of people that could use AI for every decision in their lives and the outcome would be the same or better.

That's even more terrifying IMO.

[–] NeverNudeNo13@lemmings.world 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I was convinced about 20 years ago that at least 30% of humanity would struggle to pass a basic sentience test.

[–] AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago

And it gets worse as they get older.

I have friends and relatives that used to be people. They used to have thoughts and feelings. They had convictions and reasons for those convictions.

Now, I have conversations with some of these people I've known for 20 and 30 years and they seem exasperated at the idea of even trying to think about something.

It's not just complex topics, either. You can ask him what they saw on a recent trip, what they are reading, or how they feel about some show and they look at you like the hospital intake lady from Idiocracy.

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[–] tisktisk@piefed.social 46 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I plugged this into gpt and it couldn't give me a coherent summary.
Anyone got a tldr?

[–] veeesix@lemmy.ca 66 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It’s short and worth the read, however:

tl;dr you may be the target demographic of this study

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 33 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Lol, now I'm not sure if the comment was satire. If so, bravo.

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[–] Skua@kbin.earth 29 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Based on the votes it seems like nobody is getting the joke here, but I liked it at least

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[–] tisktisk@piefed.social 21 points 4 days ago

For those genuinely curious, I made this comment before reading only as a joke--had no idea it would be funnier after reading

[–] UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee 42 points 2 days ago (1 children)
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[–] gamer@lemm.ee 42 points 3 days ago

That is peak clickbait, bravo.

[–] arotrios@lemmy.world 39 points 2 days ago (2 children)
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[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 38 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

TIL becoming dependent on a tool you frequently use is "something bizarre" - not the ordinary, unsurprising result you would expect with common sense.

[–] emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 3 days ago (10 children)

If you actually read the article Im 0retty sure the bizzarre thing is really these people using a 'tool' forming a roxic parasocial relationship with it, becoming addicted and beginning to see it as a 'friend'.

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[–] Critical_Thinker@lemm.ee 34 points 3 days ago (7 children)

now replace chatgpt with these terms, one by one:

  • the internet
  • google
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • tiktok
  • reddit
  • lemmy
  • their cell phone
  • news media
  • television
  • radio
  • podcasts
  • junk food
  • money
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[–] PieMePlenty@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago

Its too bad that some people seem to not comprehend all chatgpt is doing is word prediction. All it knows is which next word fits best based on the words before it. To call it AI is an insult to AI... we used to call OCR AI, now we know better.

[–] jamie_oliver@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I knew a guy I went to rehab with. Talked to him a while back and he invited me to his discord server. It was him, and like three self trained LLMs and a bunch of inactive people who he had invited like me. He would hold conversations with the LLMs like they had anything interesting or human to say, which they didn't. Honestly a very disgusting image, I left because I figured he was on the shit again and had lost it and didn't want to get dragged into anything.

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[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 27 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (7 children)

I don’t know how people can be so easily taken in by a system that has been proven to be wrong about so many things. I got an AI search response just yesterday that dramatically understated an issue by citing an unscientific ideologically based website with high interest and reason to minimize said issue. The actual studies showed a 6x difference. It was blatant AF, and I can’t understand why anyone would rely on such a system for reliable, objective information or responses. I have noted several incorrect AI responses to queries, and people mindlessly citing said response without verifying the data or its source. People gonna get stupider, faster.

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[–] Chastity2323@midwest.social 25 points 3 days ago (4 children)
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[–] dumples@midwest.social 24 points 3 days ago (1 children)

This makes a lot of sense because as we have been seeing over the last decades or so is that digital only socialization isn't a replacement for in person socialization. Increased social media usage shows increased loneliness not a decrease. It makes sense that something even more fake like ChatGPT would make it worse.

I don't want to sound like a luddite but overly relying on digital communications for all interactions is a poor substitute for in person interactions. I know I have to prioritize seeing people in the real world because I work from home and spending time on Lemmy during the day doesn't fulfill.

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[–] Blazingtransfem98@discuss.online 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I think these people were already crazy if they're willing to let a machine shovel garbage into their mouths blindly. Fucking mindless zombies eating up whatever is big and trendy.

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[–] itsonlygeorge@reddthat.com 21 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Isn’t the movie ‘Her’ based on this premise?

[–] Zron@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Yes, but what this movie failed to anticipate was the visceral anger I feel when I hear that stupid AI generated voice. I’ve seen too many fake videos or straight up scams using it that I now instinctively mistrust any voice that sounds like male or femaleAI.wav.

Could never fall in love with AI voice, would always assume it was sent to steal my data so some kid can steal my identify.

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[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

Same type of addiction of people who think the Kardashians care about them or schedule their whole lives around going to Disneyland a few times a year.

[–] bizarroland@fedia.io 20 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Long story short, people that use it get really used to using it.

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[–] b1tstremist0@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I tried that Replika app before AI was trendy and immediately picked on the fact that AI companion thing is literal garbage.

I may not like how my friends act but I still respect them as people so there is no way I'll fall this low and desperate.

Maybe about time we listen to that internet wisdom about touching some grass!

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[–] az04@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I need to read Amusing Ourselves to Death....

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[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Correlation does not equal causation.

You have to be a little off to WANT to interact with ChatGPT that much in the first place.

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[–] Krudler@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Not a lot of meat on this article, but yeah, I think it's pretty obvious that those who seek automated tools to define their own thoughts and feelings become dependent. If one is so incapable of mapping out ones thoughts and putting them to written word, its natural they'd seek ease and comfort with the "good enough" (fucking shitty as hell) output of a bot.

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