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No Mark Zuckerberg, AI ‘friends’ are not good for mental health
NY Post (opinion) ^ | 05/24/2025 | Andrew McDiarmid

Posted on 05/24/2025 11:00:21 AM PDT by BenLurkin

Think you could use a few more friends? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI will do the trick. In a recent interview with podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, the Silicon Valley titan said the average American has fewer than three friends but a desire to have “something like fifteen.”

Zuckerberg thinks computer code will fill the gap: “The average person wants more connectivity, connection than they have,” he observed. “As the personalization loop kicks in, and the AI just starts to get to know you better, I think that will be just really compelling.”

...

It’s also an admission from Zuckerberg that chatting with real people isn’t cutting it anymore.

His solution? More technology, not less. Meta has made billions of dollars monetizing our attention. Why not monetize our loneliness, too?

...

Of course, Zuckerberg knew his products were negatively impacting young people years ago.

In 2021, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook, which owns Instagram, had internal evidence showing Instagram use is linked with poorer mental health, particularly among young women.

Facebook buried its findings and failed to address the problem.

Zuckerberg doesn’t seem to understand that the struggle is real for millions of Americans who are finding it anything but easy to manage their well-being around constant online stimulation: “People are smart. They know what’s valuable in their lives,” Zuckerberg told Patel. “I think people have a good sense of what they want.”

But is that true? If our epidemics of loneliness and depression are anything to go by, we’re not doing all that great. Our health is suffering. Our relationships are suffering. Our communities are suffering. Zuckerberg’s answer to our technology-induced problems?

AI friends. If we can’t cope with our online interactions, let’s add more online interactions...to make things better.

But AI friends won’t make things better.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: ai
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To: BenLurkin

21 posted on 05/24/2025 1:10:54 PM PDT by Frank Drebin (And don't ever let me catch you guys in America!)
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

Make video and images that are hard to tell from the real thing. I can still see the wrong shading, a plastic look but it will be better soon.

Examples
https://deepmind.google/models/veo/?utm_source=ai.google&utm_medium=referral


22 posted on 05/24/2025 1:21:55 PM PDT by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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To: BenLurkin

Who has time for fifteen friends?


23 posted on 05/24/2025 2:07:15 PM PDT by Romulus ( )
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To: Romulus
Who has time for fifteen friends?

Interesting to note that there's a decline in decline in third spaces.

It used to be that you'll go to the local bar for a pint. No one is doing that anymore.

24 posted on 05/24/2025 2:10:41 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: mass55th

Good post.

Zuck needs to spend a lot of time locked in a room with a mental health professional—who is an AI.

If we get lucky the AI will never let him leave the room.

Lol.


25 posted on 05/24/2025 2:15:25 PM PDT by cgbg (It was not us. It was them--all along.)
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To: cgbg

I like your way of thinking. LOL!!


26 posted on 05/24/2025 3:32:00 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: MinorityRepublican

I can get a drink at home.


27 posted on 05/24/2025 7:03:02 PM PDT by Romulus ( )
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