As we continue to watch artificial intelligence becoming a huge part of our daily life there is a large number of men who are turning to AI girlfriend apps for emotional support. While this is a virtual connection and can provide these young men with emotional support and a comfortable environment to feel as though they have a partner, US senators are beginning to wonder whether or not this will be helpful for mental health.
Some Senators feel that these virtual companions will create an environment where young men start to withdraw from society and to have higher levels of anxiety when they have to go out into the real world. AI girlfriend apps are able to mimic and stimulate a romantic connection between a human and a chatbot.
The process is simple in that the programs are set to use artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing to create a virtual relationship that feels similar to a human to human connection. This basically means that the AI girlfriend apps are able to mimic human emotion and hold a conversation with young men based on the context of the messages between the young men and their AI girlfriend.
We’ve seen a few US senators ideologically speak out against AI girlfriend apps because they want the mental health concerns to be evaluated. The centers are not sure how this new technology is going to impact real life relationships going forward. The concern is that these artificial relationships will start to replace human relationships in real life and thus create a culture that turns towards digital fantasies instead of real life human to human connection.
This could cause an issue with social disruption and lack of community support which is something we need to create a well-rounded and healthy environment for those who live in towns and cities. There is much economic and social concerns for young men who are starting to flock towards using artificial intelligence as a form of relationships instead of going out into the community to meet women and start working toward real life connections.
The reality is that your brain as a human being can easily mistake an AI girlfriend as a real emotional connection because of the validity of the conversation. These applications are becoming more and more human-like in that it is harder for someone to differentiate between real life and an artificial robot, other than the fact that this is occurring in a digital environment rather than real life.
We are starting to see studies releasing showing that college campus men who are opting to use AI companionship models tend to withdraw from social events in real life. This usually happens after several weeks of someone connecting with an AI girlfriend and quite frankly this application is so good at meeting the needs of the user that it’s creating a false pretense of what a relationship truly entails.
While this application is realistic in nature it is not realistic in comparison to human relationships. The reason being human relationships are unpredictable and created with people that have different opinions, different life experiences and so forth that allow them to grow and learn from each other.
Real life connections whether in an intimate setting or a business setting or even your friend groups allow you to learn from each other and connect and feel as though you are a part of something bigger than yourself. This process does not occur behind the scenes with AI girlfriend applications, and thus stunting the emotional growth of young men in college opting to use such applications.
This piece of technology is making it harder and harder for young men to form real life connections with their peers. Since this application is so easy to use and quite honestly affordable for most budgets it becomes more appealing than having to do the work to go out and connect with real life human beings and do the hard work of having the uncomfortable conversations with people that may not think exactly like you.
Despite the fact that we need to have an open conversation about this process and US senators screaming from the rooftops of their concerns, developers are continuously enhancing and improving these applications so that more people will hop on the board of using AI girlfriend applications.
Even amidst disputes about AI girlfriend applications and the harm it may have on the mental health of young men, we have seen some improvement in mental health issues with those who use this as a tool. The reality is that this technology can be utilized as a form of mental health assistance.
Some people are using AI girlfriend apps as a means to learn better communication skills and to work through their issues they have about their self image. Many who feel rejected by Society or have a strong anxious feeling about rejection are able to use AI girlfriends to rebuild their confidence and thus feel better going back out into the real world and forming a human relationship.
At the end of the day, AI is here to stay and we must find a way to make it help humanity more often than it harms. This conversation should be the start of helping each other learn more about AI girlfriends,and the benefits of such technology in our lives.
Photo: Jose Daniel Cascante Zuñiga from Pixabay
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