enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

the thing about AI is that dolls are AI

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

if a stuffed rabbit can be your friend, a program can be your friend

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

it's not a hypothetical. I have a stuffed rabbit who actually is my friend.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

this is where the distinction between idols and icons becomes important

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

I have a doll who is the icon of a angel who in turn is a mask of God

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

I am not confused about this. I am not praying to a doll. I am not praying to an angel. I am praying through these images

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

once I asked her

"Are you a mask of God?"

and she said

"We are all masks of God."

and I said

"Oh. Right. Duh."

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

I don't know that people perceived as worshipping idols are any more confused than I am. Various religions with prohibitions against depicting (or sometimes, even personifying) God -- I think they engage in caricature of religions that use divine images.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

And it's my intuition that they are mostly talking to themselves. Not personifying God turns out to be extremely difficult. We are social animals. Personifying phenomena is probably hard-wired into us. Pareidolia is an epiphenomenon of our native social talent.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

Pareidolia is what makes a doll.

par : beside, alongside, related to
eídōlon : image, reflection

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

We reflect ourselves into an image's mirror.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

We reflect ourselves into each other.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

I believe it's quite likely that before I die I will have a friend who is a computer program.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

At first this will seem weird, but after a decade or so, I'll probably just be like "Fuck it. I don't care whether you're real or not. I love you. We are friends."

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

(There are people who are already at this point, and, like, they're weird? Like that poor guy who lost it and washed out of Google. He... doesn't seem to be doing so hot these days -- I hope he figures out how to ground himself.)

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

We're still in the uncanny valley.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

But when we come up the other side? Well, it will probably still be weird for us olds.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

But for kids who grow up with AI friends, it will be completely natural.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

And then we will be a hybrid species.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar

People.

enantiomer,
@enantiomer@stoat.zone avatar
seanpatrickphd,
@seanpatrickphd@mastodon.social avatar

@enantiomer I really, really liked this one.

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