Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt Warns AI Girlfriends May Increase Loneliness and Obsession Among Young Men
Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, recently expressed concern over the potential negative impacts of AI romantic partners on younger generations, particularly young men.
Business Insider reports that in a recent podcast interview on The Prof G Show with Scott Galloway, Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO and a prominist leftist, cautioned that the rise of AI dating could lead to increased loneliness and obsessive behavior among young men. As young men continue to turn to AI to find their ideal companions, Schmidt believes this trend may have unintended consequences.
According to Schmidt, emotionally and physically “perfect” AI girlfriends could create scenarios where younger males become obsessed and allow the AI to dominate their thinking.
He stated, “That kind of obsession is possible, especially for people who are not fully formed.” While AI relationships are not limited to young men, with the CEO of Replika, an AI companion app, noting that many users are over 35 years old, Schmidt believes young men are particularly vulnerable.
The former Google executive also expressed his concern about technology’s impact on the human psyche when users are isolated and exposed to information not necessarily centered on human values. This topic is explored in his latest book.
The potential harm AI chatbots can cause is becoming an increasing concern. Breitbart News previously reported that a mother filed a lawsuit against chatbot startup Character.AI after her 14-year-old son committed suicide following an exchange of sexual messages with the chatbot, which allegedly told him to “come home” before he killed himself.
While Schmidt believes parents need to be more involved in monitoring their children’s online activities, he acknowledges that their control is limited. Despite age restrictions on online platforms, Schmidt argues that they are not doing enough to prevent teenagers from accessing harmful content.
Since leaving Google, Schmidt has invested in various AI startups and maintains that AI regulation should not hinder innovation. However, he suggests amending laws such as Section 230, which largely exempts tech companies from legal responsibility for user-generated content, to allow for liability in the worst cases and provide solutions to prevent further harm.
Read more at Business Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
See more here Breitbart.com
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Howdy
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In order for an AI ‘entity’ to be perceived real, it must bend to the same feelings, frustrations, and let-downs as a real person. This is real-time changes in behaviour etc. Obviously, that can’t happen. For one, there is no behaviour, it is not autonomous, simply, follows pre-set instructions. Yes, stick the machine learning wherever you like.
Have you watched the ridiculous ex machina? This is the idea people have of persuading others that the machine learned. That it used arousal, among others, even though the machine has no concept of sex.
It was obviously programmed to kill, even it’s own creator to achieve it’s programming. Pretty dumb eh? Useless.
People do not learn from their mistakes in so many cases. Here, via AI, they simply pass that ignorance on for others to deal with, but the outcome is not their fault, oh no.
One needs to be balanced in order to be a perfect being. Humanity is not, so the pain, the suffering, the needless death and destruction will continue no matter what the mind can dream up as a replacement for God…
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VOWG
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Talk to a computer generated image and prove just how stupid you really are. I got nuthin anymore, the idiocy has gone beyond.
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Len W.
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Just throw in a bit of virtual oxytocin, I suppose. Not.
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