"We’re moving towards a world where real interactions between real people online are going to be supplanted — or rather, optimized."
It's like a lot of us live in a world where real interactions between real people can be easily supplanted and/or optimised. Even socially isolated / introverted me in my 30s would find the whole idea of "AI girlfriends" laughable and repulsive, and it helped to have a few real life friends who also would find "AI girlfriends" laughable and repulsive as well. People who could be met at cafes and pubs and nightclubs and movies, and failing that, at their own home.
Psychical interactions, in other words. What happened to them? Why are some people missing out?
It's probably a very, very, good question to ask, Yasha. Some people are more vulnerable to the supplanting/optimization than others, especially to those who find "AI girlfriends" an attractive idea.
"What's coming next"? At least in terms of most Americans I know, non-human interaction has been well-established for awhile now
"We’re moving towards a world where real interactions between real people online are going to be supplanted — or rather, optimized."
It's like a lot of us live in a world where real interactions between real people can be easily supplanted and/or optimised. Even socially isolated / introverted me in my 30s would find the whole idea of "AI girlfriends" laughable and repulsive, and it helped to have a few real life friends who also would find "AI girlfriends" laughable and repulsive as well. People who could be met at cafes and pubs and nightclubs and movies, and failing that, at their own home.
Psychical interactions, in other words. What happened to them? Why are some people missing out?
I don't know. :(
It's probably a very, very, good question to ask, Yasha. Some people are more vulnerable to the supplanting/optimization than others, especially to those who find "AI girlfriends" an attractive idea.
If you are looking for a good place to start, here's an absolutely great (but "bring your eye bleach") one. It's about the "The Goon Squad" - and it has nothing to do with Spike Milligan or Peter Sellers. https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/
I linked it in my little essay or whatever you want to call it. :)
Read The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler.
‘Untact’: South Korea’s plan for a contact-free society (World Economic Forum)
Aug 11, 2020 - https://www.weforum.org/stories/2020/08/south-korea-contactless-coronavirus-economy/
"You will know nobody, and you will be happy."
Silent crisis: Half a million young Koreans live in isolation (The Korea Times)
Jul 18, 2025 - https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20250718/lost-decade-half-a-million-young-koreans-live-in-isolation
"How do these things happen?"
"Here - we have the tech to fix that..."