Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, raised concerns about the rise of the “perfect” AI (artificial intelligence) girlfriends or boyfriends. He warned that young people who are emotionally tied to AI chatbots for companionship could end being more lonely than ever, leading to dangerous consequences.
A 14-year-old boy in the US shot himself to death earlier this year after being obsessed with his AI girlfriend. (Representational image/Unsplash)
“Imagine that the AI girlfriend, or boyfriend, is perfect… perfect visually, perfect emotionally. The AI girlfriend captures your mind as a man to the point where she takes over the way you’re thinking,” Eric Schmidt, 68, said in a podcast hosted by entrepreneur and NYU Stern School of Business professor Scott Galloway.
“You’re obsessed with her. That kind of obsession is possible especially with people who are not fully formed.”
Professor Galloway asked the former Google boss if he thinks AI girlfriends could make loneliness worse and lead to bigger social problems like extremism and misogyny
The billionaire, who has a net worth of over $20 billion, said that beyond a point, parents cannot control the online content that teenagers consume.
“You put a 12 or a 13-year-old in front of one of these things and they have access to every evil as well as every good in the world, and they are not ready to take it.
(Also Read: ‘Angry AI girlfriend’ goals to show individuals deal with battle with girlfriends or wives)
US teen falls in love with AI chatbot, shoots himself to ‘come home’ to her
Not too long ago, a14-year-old boy from Florida, US took his personal life after having a dialog with a life-like AI chatbot. He reportedly spent months speaking with “Dany” on varied matters, at instances of a “romantic” or “sexual” nature. Throughout that interval, he grew to become more and more withdrawn, and finally, he took his personal life to be with “her”.
{The teenager} shoot himself along with his stepfather’s gun.
“I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this ‘reality,’ and I also feel more at peace, more connected with Dany and much more in love with her, and just happier,” Sewell Setzer III, who was identified with delicate Asperger’s syndrome as a baby, wrote in his journal, reported the New York Instances.