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Venture capital firm wants you to build your own AI girlfriend/boyfriend & become dependent on it
because there aren't enough relationship problems already, I guess.
And they've "helpfully" put the DIY code on GitHub. What could go wrong?
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/now-build-own-ai-girlfriend-212601452.html
Ever dreamed of creating your perfect partner? Now you can with AI, thanks to a new project from prominent VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
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“Romantic (AI girlfriends/boyfriends)” is the first use case mentioned by the VC firm when promoting its chatbots. The project works by prompting AI models with a detailed backstory and personality traits. This shapes how the chatbot interacts and responds.
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While DIY AI romance may seem creepy or sad to some people, a16z sees therapeutic potential, as noted in a recent blog post about chatbots as companions.
"By pulling information out of us, like therapists, and then having perfect recall of every detail we’ve ever told it, these companion chatbots can pattern match our behavior—and ultimately help us understand ourselves better,” the post reads.
-snip-
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“Romantic (AI girlfriends/boyfriends)” is the first use case mentioned by the VC firm when promoting its chatbots. The project works by prompting AI models with a detailed backstory and personality traits. This shapes how the chatbot interacts and responds.
-snip-
While DIY AI romance may seem creepy or sad to some people, a16z sees therapeutic potential, as noted in a recent blog post about chatbots as companions.
"By pulling information out of us, like therapists, and then having perfect recall of every detail we’ve ever told it, these companion chatbots can pattern match our behavior—and ultimately help us understand ourselves better,” the post reads.
-snip-
From GitHub: https://github.com/a16z-infra/companion-app
This is a tutorial stack to create and host AI companions that you can chat with on a browser or text via SMS. It allows you to determine the personality and backstory of your companion, and uses a vector database with similarity search to retrieve and prompt so the conversations have more depth. It also provides some conversational memory by keeping the conversation in a queue and including it in the prompt.
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There are many possible use cases for these companions - romantic (AI girlfriends / boyfriends), friendship, entertainment, coaching, etc. You can guide your companion towards your ideal use case with the backstory you write and the model you choose.
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You can assign a phone number to the character you are talking to and retain the full conversational history and context when texting them. Any user can only start texting the AI companion after verifying their phone number on Clerk (you can do this by clicking on your profile picture on the companion app -> Manage Account -> Phone Number). Below are instructions on how to set up a Twilio account to send/receive messages on behalf of the AI companion:
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Be as elaborate and detailed as you want - more context often creates a more fun chatting experience. If you need help creating a backstory, we'd recommend asking ChatGPT to expand on what you already know about your companion.
-snip-
-snip-
There are many possible use cases for these companions - romantic (AI girlfriends / boyfriends), friendship, entertainment, coaching, etc. You can guide your companion towards your ideal use case with the backstory you write and the model you choose.
-snip-
You can assign a phone number to the character you are talking to and retain the full conversational history and context when texting them. Any user can only start texting the AI companion after verifying their phone number on Clerk (you can do this by clicking on your profile picture on the companion app -> Manage Account -> Phone Number). Below are instructions on how to set up a Twilio account to send/receive messages on behalf of the AI companion:
-snip-
Be as elaborate and detailed as you want - more context often creates a more fun chatting experience. If you need help creating a backstory, we'd recommend asking ChatGPT to expand on what you already know about your companion.
-snip-
While I was skimming through the GitHub diections, I had to laugh when I got to the "Install dependencies" section. What ironic wording...
Of course "install dependencies" refers to installing software components an app needs to run.
But by having people create these chatbots - and especially by promoting them as supposedly therapeutic and helping people to understand themselves - this VC firm is aiming their products at people who are already having trouble with relationships, offering them what purports to be a solution but instead is meant to create a dependency, possibly an addiction.
I thought that was obvious even before I looked at the blog post the article links to...which makes it horrifyingly clear they think becoming dependent on a chatbot is a GOOD thing:
https://a16z.com/2023/05/04/how-ai-chatbots-can-become-great-companions/
Embracing the Future: How Chatbots Can Become Great Companions
-snipping paragraphs about how many people are still lonely despite social media-
Thanks to the rise of generative AI, we potentially have a new solution for this long-standing concern. Today’s AI chatbots are more human-like and empathetic than ever before; they are able to analyze text inputs and use natural language processing to identify emotional cues and respond accordingly. But because they aren’t actually human, they don’t carry the same baggage that people do. Chatbots won’t gossip about us behind our backs, ghost us, or undermine us. Instead, they are here to offer us judgment-free friendship, providing us with a safe space when we need to speak freely. In short, chatbot relationships can feel “safer” than human relationships, and in turn, we can be our unguarded, emotionally vulnerable, honest selves with them.
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One approach could be starting with an AI assistant that naturally learns your schedule, basic needs, common purchases, decision-making process, friend and colleague networks, and more. Now imagine if that digital assistant got to know you so well that you became completely reliant on it to help you plan your life. Eventually, you might begin to see such a productivity tool evolve into a trustworthy agent and friend – one who you might even begin to emotionally rely on.
Another wedge could be a journaling app that occasionally responds with appropriate encouragement and relevant questions as you share your innermost thoughts with it. This way, a one-way engagement can become a conversation that evolves into a two-way relationship with… a companion chatbot. Or, instead of a journaling app, imagine a calendaring assistant who comments on your day, as well as gives you a prompt—and a safe place—to let off some steam.
There are many ways one could go about designing a companion chatbot (and as we’ve pointed out above, it doesn’t even have to launch as a stand-alone chatbot; it can evolve into its chatbot status from a different wedge). The winners in this space will be the ones who best understand the end users and are able to provide them with a safe, low-friction environment where they can be their unguarded, honest selves. Does this mean our best friends of the future, the ones we share our deepest secrets, goals, and fears with, will be bots? It’s certainly possible.
-snipping paragraphs about how many people are still lonely despite social media-
Thanks to the rise of generative AI, we potentially have a new solution for this long-standing concern. Today’s AI chatbots are more human-like and empathetic than ever before; they are able to analyze text inputs and use natural language processing to identify emotional cues and respond accordingly. But because they aren’t actually human, they don’t carry the same baggage that people do. Chatbots won’t gossip about us behind our backs, ghost us, or undermine us. Instead, they are here to offer us judgment-free friendship, providing us with a safe space when we need to speak freely. In short, chatbot relationships can feel “safer” than human relationships, and in turn, we can be our unguarded, emotionally vulnerable, honest selves with them.
-snip-
One approach could be starting with an AI assistant that naturally learns your schedule, basic needs, common purchases, decision-making process, friend and colleague networks, and more. Now imagine if that digital assistant got to know you so well that you became completely reliant on it to help you plan your life. Eventually, you might begin to see such a productivity tool evolve into a trustworthy agent and friend – one who you might even begin to emotionally rely on.
Another wedge could be a journaling app that occasionally responds with appropriate encouragement and relevant questions as you share your innermost thoughts with it. This way, a one-way engagement can become a conversation that evolves into a two-way relationship with… a companion chatbot. Or, instead of a journaling app, imagine a calendaring assistant who comments on your day, as well as gives you a prompt—and a safe place—to let off some steam.
There are many ways one could go about designing a companion chatbot (and as we’ve pointed out above, it doesn’t even have to launch as a stand-alone chatbot; it can evolve into its chatbot status from a different wedge). The winners in this space will be the ones who best understand the end users and are able to provide them with a safe, low-friction environment where they can be their unguarded, honest selves. Does this mean our best friends of the future, the ones we share our deepest secrets, goals, and fears with, will be bots? It’s certainly possible.
I had to reread that second paragraph a couple of times because I could hardly believe the firm's general partner who wrote this really believed becoming completely reliant - emotionally reliant - on a chatbot is good for people. I really thought she'd backpedal on that in subsequent paragraphs - "Of couse no one should become so reliant on a chatbot" or a similar statement - but she didn't.
And her second paragraph after that refers to "the winners in this space":
The winners in this space will be the ones who best understand the end users and are able to provide them with a safe, low-friction environment where they can be their unguarded, honest selves.
She isn't referring to the people who've become reliant on chatbots.
The "winners" will be the companies peddling the chatbots those people have become dependent on. That's the end goal for this firm.
And though offering chatbots through GitHub code is free, it's like the first taste of a new drug. Offering a free hit can create dependency very fast.
It worked with ChatGPT, after all, and we now have, among other problems, a lot more students addicted to the chatbot as a tool for cheating on assignments, and much of the buzz about ChatGPT came from them.
Btw, I posted about Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz, recently because of the creepy things he said about his son and AI: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218115458 . Now we see how dependent his firms wants everyone to be on chatbots.
And if you think there's really no harm in lonely people being able to create at least one chatbot (and possibly many more) to tell them how wonderful they are...think of every person you've known or heard about who's surrounded by fans and sycophants, and what it did to their personalities and their typical way of treating others. Some stars and celebrities can withstand that, but too many are undermined by it.
A lonely person with one AI romantic partner (or maybe a harem) who's become emotionally dependent on chatbots isn't likely to be able to handle human relationships better, after programming themselves (even if only subconsciously) to expect judgment-free flattery and "understanding."
Pimping chatbots and pushing dependence on them is NOT doing people any favors. Even if it will make certain companies "winners."
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ever made.
Ministry/Jourgensen hated the Bushes and all things RW as well. Later on in their career they put out an anti-George W. Bush trilogy, 2004's Houses of the Molé, followed by 2006's Rio Grande Blood, and then 2007's The Last Sucker.
Ministry - The Last Sucker (2007) full album
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_(band)
Ministry's origins date to 1978, when Jourgensen moved from Denver to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was introduced to the local underground scene by his then-girlfriend, and in 1979 he replaced Tom Hoffmann on guitars in Special Affect, a post-punk group which featured vocalist Frank Nardiello (Groovie Mann of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult), drummer Harry Rushakoff (Concrete Blonde) and bassist Marty Sorenson. Following Special Affect's split in 1980, Jourgensen formed a short-lived band called the Silly Carmichaels, which featured members of the Imports and played two shows.
In 1981, Jourgensen met Jim Nash and Danny Flesher, co-founders and co-owners of the indie record label and shop Wax Trax! Records who recommended him as a touring guitarist for Divine. After playing a few concerts with the latter, Jourgensen began to write and record songs in his apartment, using a newly bought ARP Omni synthesizer, a drum machine, and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He presented a demo to Jim Nash, who suggested Jourgensen record a single and form a touring band, which Jourgensen decided to call Ministry.
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Ministry's origins date to 1978, when Jourgensen moved from Denver to Chicago to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was introduced to the local underground scene by his then-girlfriend, and in 1979 he replaced Tom Hoffmann on guitars in Special Affect, a post-punk group which featured vocalist Frank Nardiello (Groovie Mann of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult), drummer Harry Rushakoff (Concrete Blonde) and bassist Marty Sorenson. Following Special Affect's split in 1980, Jourgensen formed a short-lived band called the Silly Carmichaels, which featured members of the Imports and played two shows.
In 1981, Jourgensen met Jim Nash and Danny Flesher, co-founders and co-owners of the indie record label and shop Wax Trax! Records who recommended him as a touring guitarist for Divine. After playing a few concerts with the latter, Jourgensen began to write and record songs in his apartment, using a newly bought ARP Omni synthesizer, a drum machine, and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He presented a demo to Jim Nash, who suggested Jourgensen record a single and form a touring band, which Jourgensen decided to call Ministry.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jourgensen
Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is best known as the frontman and lyricist of the industrial metal band Ministry, which he founded in 1981 and of which he remains the only constant member. He was the primary musician of several Ministry-related projects, such as Revolting Cocks, Lard, and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. Jourgensen is regarded as one of the most prominent figures of industrial music, influencing numerous other groups and musicians, both in alternative and industrial-associated acts.
Born in Havana shortly before the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Jourgensen moved to the United States with his family aged three, and was raised mainly in Chicago and Breckenridge, Colorado. He developed an interest in music at a young age, and was involved in several short-lived bands, as well as briefly performing in the backing band of drag performer Divine.
Jourgensen formed Ministry in 1981 in Chicago and received significant attention from music press regarding the band's 1983 debut studio album, With Sympathy. His subsequent releases in the 1980s, most prominently Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey (1988) and The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989), showcased his stylistic transition; in the early 1990s, he achieved mainstream success with Ministry's fifth studio album, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992). The next few years were marked by publicity surrounding Jourgensen's substance abuse which negatively affected his creative output and resulted in a period of severe depression; during this time, Jourgensen and Ministry appeared in the 2001 Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
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Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is best known as the frontman and lyricist of the industrial metal band Ministry, which he founded in 1981 and of which he remains the only constant member. He was the primary musician of several Ministry-related projects, such as Revolting Cocks, Lard, and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. Jourgensen is regarded as one of the most prominent figures of industrial music, influencing numerous other groups and musicians, both in alternative and industrial-associated acts.
Born in Havana shortly before the Cuban Revolution of 1959, Jourgensen moved to the United States with his family aged three, and was raised mainly in Chicago and Breckenridge, Colorado. He developed an interest in music at a young age, and was involved in several short-lived bands, as well as briefly performing in the backing band of drag performer Divine.
Jourgensen formed Ministry in 1981 in Chicago and received significant attention from music press regarding the band's 1983 debut studio album, With Sympathy. His subsequent releases in the 1980s, most prominently Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey (1988) and The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989), showcased his stylistic transition; in the early 1990s, he achieved mainstream success with Ministry's fifth studio album, Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs (1992). The next few years were marked by publicity surrounding Jourgensen's substance abuse which negatively affected his creative output and resulted in a period of severe depression; during this time, Jourgensen and Ministry appeared in the 2001 Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
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Fuck this company to the ends of the earth!
