Character AI: CAUTION The Next Big Thing in Teenage Loneliness
Could you look into Character AI and how it will be the next big thing solving Teenage loneliness? It will be worse than Porn or Phone addiction. We will be going into two species, one connected with AI and those who reject it.
For those of you that have not heard of Character AI (this was new to me too), here is a brief description (summary from www.signitysolutions.com):
Character AI is an innovative platform that allows users to interact with and create AI-driven characters, known as "AI friends" or "AI bots."
Users can engage in text-based conversations with AI characters that mimic human-like interactions. These characters can have personalities, backstories, and even evolve over time based on interactions.
One of the standout features is the ability for users to create their own AI characters. You can design their appearance, define their personality traits, and set their knowledge base or conversational style.
Users can share their created AI characters with the community, allowing others to interact with them.
Character AI supports role-playing where users can simulate different scenarios or continue narratives with AI characters. This can be used for entertainment, therapy, or learning purposes.
The AI characters are designed to learn from interactions, potentially becoming more tailored to the user's communication style over time. This adaptive learning makes each conversation unique.
Character AI is a new kind of technology where you can chat with AI-made characters that feel almost real. It's becoming popular because it can help with feeling lonely, especially among teens, but there's a big worry about where this could lead us.
The above is concerning for many reasons.
We all see kids and even adults with their face in their phone or playing video games. This is just one step further in creating more of an addiction to technology and fake friends. Real life teaches us how to adapt to other people and personalities. Without human interactions, the ease of the AI friends can easily create a scenario where kids like virtual reality friends more than real ones. These are not real people, and what is scarier is that the AI behind the interactions is ultimately programmed and controlled by who (or worse, what)? It is my belief that in many ways AI is like a virtual Ouija board, and playing and interfacing with it as an entity in any sort of relationship opens you up to a whole host of things. This is NOT a toy any more than an Ouija board is a game in the board game isle. There is a reason the access to children is so easy, encouraged (and appealing)!
In our world filled with many types of mental illnesses, it is quite possible for kids to get sucked into this and confuse what's real life and what's just a computer program. Emotions are a powerful force to reckon with, and when paired with smart intelligence, and it takes me back to my previous concern- at the end of the day who or what are these kids conversing with and what are they being influenced by? What happens when kids start to rely on this virtual friend for support? AI friends aren't real and kids can start to get confused by what a real world friendship or interaction should feel like.
This new technology might make our youth even more alienated and liking or disliking AI could define your social life. We might end up with one group living in a bubble where life is too easy, and another group that values the real, sometimes tough, interactions of life.
The bottom line is, while AI characters might help with loneliness at first, they could make things worse by pulling us away from real connections and opening you up to potential demonic attacks. It's something we should think about. How do we want technology to fit into our lives? There is a time and a place for these tools, but that place in NOT in your mind.
Much Love,
Lynn