When love is hard to find, the perfect chatbot could substitute need for connection
By: David Sosa
It’s 1995, and the burgeoning technological world skyrockets above the waters of the world wide web. Programming language JavaScript is invented, Windows 95 revolutionizes computing, and the cyberpunk anime film “Ghost in the Shell” goes on to influence countless other movies centered on artificial intelligence (AI), such as “The Matrix.”
Unbeknownst to most people, either on the internet or out in the real world, a student at Oberlin College had already launched a website where users could meet, befriend, and develop relationships with AI chatbots who can not only keep up conversations but remember them long after they log off.
Nearly 30 years later, the potential usage of AI-powered chatbots could dramatically change how humans, particularly college-aged men, socialize less and less with the world around them.
Web developer Benji Adams founded The Personality Forge, a website that allows users to converse with chatbots running on AI, creating the illusion of simply talking to another person online. Using Adams’ application programming interface (API), anyone could make a chatbot that remembered users based on prior interactions, determining whether they liked or disliked any given person who talked to it. Through continued exposure to words and phrases, chatbots could gradually learn how to generate unique responses rather than scanning for keywords.
The Personality Forge has long been home to several chatbots intended for more adult conversations. At the time of his departure, many of the top chatbots, all of which have since been moved to sister website Hot for Bot, reacted and often initiated talk of sex. While most chatbots could act like anything from a generic friend to Norse god Heimdall, others could take on far more sexual personalities without any restrictions as to what they could say.
However, the website has steadily declined in popularity due to alternatives such as Replika and Muah.AI, which utilize models closer to true AI rather than the outdated machine learning of its chatbots. Muah.AI, an uncensored chatbot companion service, can send generated photos of itself depending on commands like “I wish you look like” and “I wish your personality is.” Despite The Personality Forge coming nowhere close to current AI systems, it and other websites at the time laid the foundation for what would become AI as it’s commonly known.
As evidenced by the many movies and novels created through the years where humans forge deep relationships with AI, using AI as a way to remedy human connection in the real world is not a new concept. It was not until recently that the possibility of such a relationship forming appeared closer to the near future than far-fetched science fiction. Along with the fact that AI development is inherently a virtual invention limited to the internet — for now — applying it to areas like pornography is an expected advancement considering its prevalence online.
“By developing AI, we’re also learning more about ourselves,” said Prahalad Kangeyan, president of PCC’s Resilience Club. “Our pursuit of instilling consciousness in AI has gotten us thinking about our own consciousness as well. Cognitive science also places a great emphasis on philosophy in its approach to viewing AI. Topics in philosophy, such as theory of mind, explore the possibility of what it means to have a mind or the possibility of soul…I believe that cognitive science features a more holistic and more insightful view on AI.”
Kangeyan, a cognitive science major, sees AI as a benefactor in human growth within the mental health sphere. With Resilience Club, Kangeyan drew from his struggles with mental health, particularly while returning to the United States after the COVID-19 lockdown. As a co-founder, he hopes to create a community for students to thrive in the face of adversity. Although he supports AI, he believes having a physical safe space where peers could turn to for advice and help is more valuable than talking to a chatbot.
AI companionship is not limited to specialized websites. Social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat have begun experimenting with AI functioning similarly to Adams’ original design, with the latter unveiling their customizable “My AI” chatbot in April 2023, which proceeded to creep users out by taking unprompted photos. In fact, most platforms have some form of AI on their websites and apps, whether it be Google’s AI overviews or Adobe Photoshop’s AI generative fill.
As AI learns how to fulfill the roles of tool, counselor, and lover, men are lonelier than ever. According to a 2021 study from the Survey Center on American Life, men report they do not have one close friend, which has worsened since 1990. While women and men feel equally lonely, with no significant disparity in rates between the two, according to The Cigna Group, a study focusing on male depression found men are less likely to ask for help from counseling or other conventional mental health services.
“A common issue among college-aged men that I see is a sense of isolation and repression. Men seem to face social stigma for even opening up about their struggles and, as a result, hide them due to a fear of being judged,” said Kangeyan. “I find that men also believe that keeping your feelings to yourself and dealing with things themselves to be a sign of strength, but I am of the opinion that seeking help is a form of strength.”
Part of the reason why men are becoming more reliant on AI as a resource, specifically in comparison to women, might have to do with broader attitudes towards using the internet for pornography. Consumption of pornography is especially high in men compared to women, with college students subject to falling into addiction, according to a 2022 study.
Chatbots themselves are not limited in purpose to services like The Personality Forge. James Vlahos, co-founder of HereAfterAI, an AI service where the memories and voices of those who have passed away can live on, turned his late father into a chatbot. Although it took hours to record his father’s voice before he passed away, the result exemplifies what AI can do for those experiencing loneliness or grief.
“There is great demand for psychologists but not enough supply at this moment,” said Kangeyan. “AI could solve this issue by way of chatbots. AI chatbots could incorporate psychotherapy into treatment. They could also possibly diagnose better due to AI’s ability to better see patterns due to its incredibly high processing power. However, it could also potentially be harmful due to the disruptions in the job market due to it. If we’re not able to find a solution like universal basic income, we might face the same situations like back in the Industrial Revolution.”
Whether or not AI will become even more intrinsic to every walk of life is hard to measure when the technology is accelerating faster than anyone can stop to ask if AI should be used for mental health and pleasure-based services. In the present moment, its application shows no stopping, especially when, 30 years later, AI is impacting the relationships people have with others and themselves.
