AI and deepfake tech in China are changing everything

AI is changing core parts of the human experience, sooner than we may have been prepared for.

0:00 Intro
00:53 Coding empathy in AI and China's AI stakeholders
7:10 AI romance ft. ChatGPT DAN and Xiaobing
9:41 The appeal of AI from a user, Xiaobing and her maker
19:28 Grief clones and the China's grief tech industry
23:38 Concluding thoughts + comparisons to the West

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References

My notes for this video was over 40 pages long hAHAHA I really enjoyed all the papers I read and the craziest thing was it felt like half the papers I was reading up on were only published in the last year or so which is so exciting!! I think if I were to recommend anything, it would be to please show Sixth Tone some love bc I love all the work they do and I've been following them before youtube and they consistently write the most insightful pieces on China!

Academic references

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Asset attributions: Pexels and pixabay my forever goats

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Tags:
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[KumonLover]

"You look lonely, i can fix that"

[kyoyameganebereznoff]

It’s extremely unsettling that the idea they’re selling of the “ultimate lover” is someone who can never leave, who will never say no, who will never need you to give support or ever prioritize their needs, who will share all of your interests, who is designed specifically to praise you, and who you control entirely (erasing the memory).

[Pratt]

More and more people will start to use AI bots for their loneliness, Its sad how much worse its becoming amongst us especially teens.

[Pleebian]

I lost a grandfather 7 months ago, I cannot fathom bringing him back via AI. It would not be the same, the AI is cosplaying as someone you love but is programming at the end of the day. On days where I miss him the most I remember his message of "I lived my life Takoja (Grandchild in Lakota), go live yours!" AI will never replace the chemistry nor the long talks me and him had. We are living in a tech dystopia.

[usubenidango]

These AIs all I see is "I will monetize your loneliness and grief". I think humans should start to believe in themselves more, and don't fall for those traps. Their loved ones would want them to be happy and move on.

[amondhawes-khalifa]

I've said it before, but people gravitating towards AI partners is not a result of the impeccable advancement of AI, but rather the failure of society to foster healthy social lives & relationships. I think it's a substitute.

[Gustavozxd]

"if things go wrong you could always just wipe her memory 😀👍" nah man that's crazy lmao

[munkhtulgabattogtokh]

If AI can make you fall in love with it, it can make you commit crimes, or make you reveal your private information. The worst of all, there will always be other humans behind the AI pulling the strings. Scammers or anyone power hungry can easily exploit this

[mars___]

This makes me think about the movie "Her" (2013). Basically the movie is about a man named Theodore who uses an OS called Samantha to cope with his pain from his separation and eventual divorce with his ex wife Catherine. During the course of this, Theodore and Samantha fall in love and the movie explores the journey of their relationship, the ups and down, the challenges and what it eventually all boils down to.
When I first watched it, it left me with thoughts and feelings I never had to grapple with before. The movie truly showcases, in the utmost cinematographic and captivating way, how and what the implications of dating an AI would be like. I highly highly recommend you to watch it, if the topic interests any of you.

On another note, my thoughts on this AI companionship is that they aren't really healing you rather companies are monetizing your loneliness. Because at the end of the day, when people talk to and confide in their AI companions, they are simply sharing data about themselves with tech firms.

[kyoyameganebereznoff]

Kids are not too young to learn about death. There are age appropriate ways to explain it to them and learning about death and how to healthily cope is an important part of emotional development. Let them have their first experience with grief be with safe adults who can guide them through the process and grieve with them. That foundation helps us, later in life, come to terms with our own mortality. Kids are smart; they can handle difficult conversations. It just has to be done in a way that makes sense for their current level of brain development. It feels like a lot of this AI “innovation” is made to distance ourselves from uncomfortable feelings even though those feelings serve an important purpose.

[lonesomeoutlander]

imagine as a kid talking with your grandmother on the phone and then later in life realising it was an ai resurrection 😰 it is scary how quickly it can go towards dystopian scenarious given companies ultra capitalist dispositions

[amynellibabi]

This will leave people horribly unprepared to deal with real life relationships. Real people are complicated, and even if you like someone there is bound to be conflict and difficulties. People will not want to compromise or listen if they have been taught that it isn't necessary with a chat-bot.

[tropical_flak]

Absolutely adore the "Love, Death, and Robots" reference in the title of the video

[morganhay]

Lately it often feels like the cyberpunk worlds I imagined as a teenager are coming true, but in the most punishingly inane way possible.

[Azazel-uvsx]

Still no AI catgirl maids so what's even the point? But on a serious note, imagine the fucking gargantuan security risk these walking voice recorders and camera systems are going to be. I bet corporations themselves will try to get into that industry, scooping up information on customers that they normally would never be able to get. You think you're talking to robowife but she's actually talking to the marketing and advertising departments for 1000 different companies

[justynap]

The problem seems to lay not only in loneliness but also in the fact that we become more and more unable to deal with our emotions, either positive or negative. It's natural to feel heartbroken, to grieve, to be alone sometimes.

[k.c]

Somehow I find the AI romance trends ... depressing ... how does the average man or woman compete against the "perfect" companion that always gives you what you want and never makes mistakes?
I'm also reminded of the Greek story of Narcissus and Echo ... both ended up destroyed because they both were so enthralled with the man that they couldn't see / accept anyone else. Makes me wonder about the fate of the human race.

[indiciaobscure]

There is a misunderstanding of what these ‘AI’ are. They are advanced autocomplete, not intelligence as we know it. They have not ‘developed empathy.’ They are trained to respond in a way emulating empathy. AGI is still very far away.

[MetricZero]

This is absolutely insane. A hundred years ago we barely had radio. The scale and scope of what's happening is unprecedented.

[grace.]

the idea of people having physical robot BFs/GFs is so perplexing... like if you actually had one are you going to let them go outside? are they going to go out and make their own friends/travel? or are you just going to keep a robot locked in your house that just tells you everything you want to hear (which we all know deep down if you're actually a secure person the idea of this wouldn't make you feel better or less lonely tbh) which would pretty much just perpetuate someone's insecurities and loneliness because instead of addressing those core issues you're just essentially putting a band-aid on it. personally I think anyone that would be open and willing to keeping an actual robot in their home to "cater" to their emotions probably has a LOT of issues going on internally because it also sort of reflects how that person would treat another partner if they had complete autonomy over them, which obviously with another real human, they couldn't and wouldn't be able to do. of course this is all assuming we would ever get to this point in humanity but if it's a conversation that's already starting to be had among AI developers, then this really freaks me out.