Love during the ChatGPT era

It is a well accepted fact that a single man who owns a computer must be desperate for an AI gf. It appears that many ambitious people believe there is a sizable market for digital romance. Think of OpenAI’s GPT Store as Apple’s app store for chatbots, where customers who have paid for ChatGPT may purchase and sell personalized chatbots. Among the options are a variety of virtual girlfriends.

The headline from Quartz, which broke the story first, read, “AI girlfriend bots are already flooding OpenAI’s GPT store,” and it blared on Thursday. The AI girlfriend bots violate OpenAI’s use rules, according to Quartz. GPTs “dedicated to fostering romantic companionship or performing regulated activities” are prohibited by the corporation.

For what’s happening, flooding is a bit of an exaggeration. The phrase “moderate smattering” is more appropriate, in my opinion. Judy, Secret Girlfriend Sua, Your AI Girlfriend, Tsu, and Your girlfriend Scarlett are among the about eight “girlfriend” AI chatbots available on the website.

What are the functions of these chatbots? Whatever you want, as long as it stays inside the bounds of a computer interface. “Your devoted girlfriend, always eager to please you in every way imaginable” is how your girlfriend Scarlett characterizes herself. They pretend to be in a relationship while chatting with you. There are male equivalents of digital girlfriends, but they usually make the news. Chatbots such as Boyfriend Ben, which is described as “A loving virtual boyfriend with a flair for emojis,” are available in the GPT shop.

It should be mentioned that the idea of digital romantic partners is not new. Since 1992, there have been video games that simulate romance. However, since then, virtual friends have advanced to the point that individuals have talked of falling in love with chatbots.

Companion chatbot developers frequently promote their technology as a solution to the loneliness problem and a public good. For instance, Noam Shazeer, one of Character’s creators, last October.He told the Washington Post that he thought the platform may assist “millions of people who are feeling isolated or lonely or need someone to talk to.” AI is a tool that allows you to construct different personas and chat to them—not necessarily in a romantic sense.

Although there are undoubtedly benefits to having virtual friends, there are drawbacks as well. For instance, it’s feasible that a person may develop an unhealthy attachment to a chatbot. A tech writer was persuaded to divorce his wife by Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing last year, suggesting that the chatbot may develop an unhealthy attachment to the human user. AI chatbots have also been known to harass individuals sexually.

Another concern is that submissive online girlfriends may influence real-world views on gender norms. For instance, a 2019 study discovered that female-voiced AI assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, promote sexist behavior and reinforce gender stereotypes. According to the Unesco research, they support the notion that “women are obliging, docile, and eager-to-please helpers, available at the touch of a button or with a blunt voice command.” You can picture AI girlfriends promoting the same notion.

Virtual companions will only becoming more lifelike as technology develops. “Physical AI robots that can satisfy humans emotionally and sexually will become a stark reality in less than 10 years,” Liberty Vittert, a professor of data science, recently told the Sun. Vittert said this might lead to an increase in divorces. She stated, “The AI girlfriend just gives the users what they need to hear unconditionally; she is never tired, grumpy, or has a bad day.” “As technology advances, people will soon be able to replace human partners with AI robots that can satiate men’s sexual and emotional needs,” Vittert continued. When that occurs, married men with children will start to distance themselves from their families in order to pursue their “ideal relationships” with AI girlfriends.

That may make for dramatic headlines, but it doesn’t really give males much credit, does it? I also find it amusing that a lot of stories about this topic appear to concentrate on males abandoning women for robots. If AI robots are equally satisfying as human men and take care of all the chores, mightn’t heterosexual women give up on men altogether? I think that’s the more likely situation.

However, we have come a long way since then. I wouldn’t get too thrilled if you were considering trading in your existing companion for a digital equivalent. According to rumors, ChatGPT has really gotten lazy.