Exposing AI’s Role in the Addiction Economy
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - here is the Addiction Economy playbook yet again in the case against Character.AI from the fantastic folks at Center for Humane Technology.
It is the standard playbook we are seeing across all the tech, at the moment we are focusing on digital gambling and it is identical.
1. Company creates highly addictive product
2. People get addicted
3. It harms them
4. Tech blames the user
5. Wheel in independent academics and medics to talk about the tragedy of the vulnerable user.
6. They get away with it. (Let's hope not this time)
The reality: The person wasn’t lonely or depressed until they interacted with the tech. They are not the only one, but only when you die or commit suicide does anyone listen about the dangers of addictive tech and the impact of the digital world on individuals and society.
Key takeaways from this case from Center for Humane Tech:
* Character AI's products are designed to be addictive and manipulative.
* Character.AI, its founders, and Google were aware of the risks associated with this product before its launch.
* In our testing, we have found that Character AI’s chatbots repeatedly initiate predatory, and even sexually graphic interactions with self-identified child users.
* AI companion chatbots are fuelled by the same attention-mining business models as social media, but they are supercharged with high-risk anthropomorphic designs to hook users.
Here it is in detail in the NYT
https://lnkd.in/e_TQq5f3
Here is the ‘blame the vulnerable user’ defence from the ‘independent academic Bethanie Maples, a Stanford researcher who has studied the effects of A.I. companionship apps on mental health..
“I don’t think it’s inherently dangerous,” Ms. Maples said of A.I. companionship. “But there’s evidence that it’s dangerous for depressed and chronically lonely users and people going through change, and teenagers are often going through change,” she said.
Which is why all the products start with youth, the most vulnerable group of all. See social media, cigs, vapes, gaming, gambling apps, sugary cereals etc. They are the most profitable over time.
Joe Woof and I are SUPER excited to be talking to some wonderful lawyers to explores the legal aspects of this in more detail. More to come.