The Tragedy and Ecstasy of AI Companions (with Bridget Todd)
Interview with journalist Bridget Todd explores how people use AI chatbots for intimacy and how tech companies monetize emotional dependence.
404 Media interviewed Bridget Todd, creator of the podcast There Are No Girls on the Internet, about her new audiobook 'Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy.' Todd describes turning to ChatGPT for emotional support while caring for her dying parents and interviews people who form romantic and erotic relationships with chatbots. The discussion critiques tech companies' inconsistent companion policies, citing Sam Altman's reversed stance on erotic roleplay, and their incentives to monetize intimate user relationships.
- Todd's audiobook 'Love at First Prompt' examines emotional and romantic relationships with chatbots
- She argues tech companies exploit intimate user connections and reverse companion policies unpredictably
From the original article
3 min read at 404media.co
Tech companies want you to believe that the chatbots they profit from are the always ready, never judgmental, constantly affirming friend in our pockets. But are the people using them as companions under some kind of deep self-delusion? Or are they seeking something else?
By Samantha Cole · 404media.co
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