Just how far is too far?

If you told me 20 years ago that soon, someone would write some lines of code which would be able to answer almost 90 percent of questions and do so with more than satisfactory answers, I would have laughed and said you were joking (actually I wouldn’t have said anything because I wasn’t born then) but it’s 2024 and these developers are showing no signs of slowing down.

These apps have been integrated with an Intelligence that can be seen as other wordly to ‘help’ us humans. But just how far is too far?

Let me introduce you to the app in focus today; Digi.

Digi was released in December of 2023 developed by Digi AI, Inc and it was designed for romantic connections with computer generated avatars that can be designed by the users. The app has a free version but for 12 dollars a month, one could delve into “deeper engagement” and even phone calls with this humanoid character. Is anyone else imagining that and seeing how detrimental that could be to the users’ mental health?

Like previously mentioned, the avatars are fully customizable from gender to look and even moods, all cards are on the table. The developers say “This isn't just a chatbot; it's a leap into the future of romantic companionship”. Quite frankly, if the future of romantic relations lies in AI, being single for life suddenly seems very appealing. No offence, Digi developers. This app is meant to be a substitute for real life interactions and I could easily see why people would hop on this train. Take myself for example. I’m a tech bro. That automatically means I’m not a people person. Introversy at its best right here. This being said, would I turn to Digi if I wanted a real girlfriend? Hell, nah! Hard pass. But due to my personality, I can fully understand and even relate to why others would. Moreover, research has shown that Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States and a study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine highlighted how one in five suicide attempts are caused by issues relating to divorce, breakups and other similar circumstances. It is no surprise that the app has over fifty five thousand global downloads within just two months of its release.

This is where the issue of where do we as humans draw the line on what to do and what not to do with this new ‘power’ that we have arises. As appealing as an AI girlfriend may look (girlfriends designed by ex-Pixar animators for that matter), it is still no substitute for human relationships. In the long run, apps like Digi could have lasting negative effects on humans mental, social, and physical health as the already declining birth rate in a lot of countries may eventually fall even lower. These are things we can’t just ignore and hopefully in time, people will realise that we all need to make choices to limit the marks that AI has on our lives.

Oh and Yeah. Sorry for the late release of this issue (which is technically my first proper issue), we ran into some unforeseen circumstances that have been hindering posting but now we're back. The release for every issue from next week will be Wednesdays but for this week I'll be dropping two issues.

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