Incredible piece! Kudos to Reuters for revealing this outrage! We have to stop these predators from strip-mining our kids' minds. No screens in schools, no social media until age 18 yo.
If you haven't read it yet, read the After Babel post about Kids: https://www.afterbabel.com/p/kids-freedom-smartphones It's more valuable information we should be sharing, though this essay by Casey Mock is terrifying. We are going to end up with a psychologically damaged generation of children whose parents didn't know enough to take away their phones and tablets. Sigh.
Children will adopt the ethics, morality and world view of whoever they 'talk' with all day. Getting them young is the best way of hooking them in the cult
Meta knows they can't control what the chatbot says to that degree. If they choose to protect the kids, they will leave money on the table. Apparently they can't abide by that.
This is revolting! Casey, thanks for sharing this report as the most urgent step is getting this message out to parents. We cannot solely rely on the slow process of laws to protect children from "sophisticated psychological manipulation systems", but have to take action at home now. This requires parents to be present for their children, to spend time with them, and to offer them their undivided attention. Without parental presence, the synthetic relationships offered by AI companions are an irresistible temptation.
Incidentally I wrote a post today that aims to offer practical guidance on how we can be more present for children and people around us:
"...every time we turn our face toward a screen, we are sending a message to ourselves, our children, and anyone around us about which universe truly matters. And reality is losing.
Is it any wonder that children and youth are increasingly turning to synthetic AI “relationships”4 when they feel that we are simply not present?"
Thank you Ruth for pointing out that we have to take action at home now. That is so true and important. Every parent can do a whole lot in their home right now, even before laws are passed.
The parents do not have time for their kids. They don’t even have willingness to modify their lifestyle in order to make that time. Children are mere additions to career paths or survival challenges. Upbringing has no place in this model.
If parents are lucky enough to have more money, they hire strangers to take care of their children. If they are unlucky to live in specific neighbourhoods, their children will find such stranger care givers on their own.
In both cases, there is no place for parental role models. Poor these kids, indeed. They will have to explore the world as a strange place, with no caring guides, with no future in mind.
For business like social media giants, it’s a perfect market niche. They flood it in a second. Their invasion is dirt cheap. Writing engaging software over a weekend, deploying in 8 billion copies, done. You can’t blame them for taking advantage of the best business opportunity in history. Maybe you should shift your attention to their shareholders, funders and advertisers. These are real beneficiaries - and they know perfectly well that these kids will suffer as a result throughout their lifetimes. Who knows, some of them may even be parents...
Kids that talk to AI all day are fucked whether the AI is lewd or not. It is the place of the parent, not the state or the CEO, to raise decent children.
Thank you for this. I am a medical and social scientific research scientist involved with training people who work with children and adults with autism. I will be sending this piece to our University Center on Disability. One can only imagine what kind of damage this can do to children and young adults with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. If the United States government does nothing, all that we want for our children may be lost. If the United States leads, many governments may follow.
Question: If this is affecting children and young adults, how do we know how much damage is being created by first second wave millennials who are now in politics and government? Some of the insanity we see among the younger set of sycophantic politicians seems to be more widespread than the older set of the same. Will these young adults be able to function in a society that is not geared to concern over their every need? Will these kids be hardy enough to manage the transition from the present crisis and into the next high period, as did the greatest generation?
Incredible piece! Kudos to Reuters for revealing this outrage! We have to stop these predators from strip-mining our kids' minds. No screens in schools, no social media until age 18 yo.
This is important work—thanks for fighting the good fight!
If you haven't read it yet, read the After Babel post about Kids: https://www.afterbabel.com/p/kids-freedom-smartphones It's more valuable information we should be sharing, though this essay by Casey Mock is terrifying. We are going to end up with a psychologically damaged generation of children whose parents didn't know enough to take away their phones and tablets. Sigh.
META deliberately targets children.
That should be against the law containing the gravest of consequences for those who transgress.
They are truly diabolical entity.
Children will adopt the ethics, morality and world view of whoever they 'talk' with all day. Getting them young is the best way of hooking them in the cult
Meta knows they can't control what the chatbot says to that degree. If they choose to protect the kids, they will leave money on the table. Apparently they can't abide by that.
This is revolting! Casey, thanks for sharing this report as the most urgent step is getting this message out to parents. We cannot solely rely on the slow process of laws to protect children from "sophisticated psychological manipulation systems", but have to take action at home now. This requires parents to be present for their children, to spend time with them, and to offer them their undivided attention. Without parental presence, the synthetic relationships offered by AI companions are an irresistible temptation.
Incidentally I wrote a post today that aims to offer practical guidance on how we can be more present for children and people around us:
"...every time we turn our face toward a screen, we are sending a message to ourselves, our children, and anyone around us about which universe truly matters. And reality is losing.
Is it any wonder that children and youth are increasingly turning to synthetic AI “relationships”4 when they feel that we are simply not present?"
In defense of interstitial time: How to grow life in the in-between moments: https://schooloftheunconformed.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-interstitial-time-how
Thank you Ruth for pointing out that we have to take action at home now. That is so true and important. Every parent can do a whole lot in their home right now, even before laws are passed.
.....wtf
The parents do not have time for their kids. They don’t even have willingness to modify their lifestyle in order to make that time. Children are mere additions to career paths or survival challenges. Upbringing has no place in this model.
If parents are lucky enough to have more money, they hire strangers to take care of their children. If they are unlucky to live in specific neighbourhoods, their children will find such stranger care givers on their own.
In both cases, there is no place for parental role models. Poor these kids, indeed. They will have to explore the world as a strange place, with no caring guides, with no future in mind.
For business like social media giants, it’s a perfect market niche. They flood it in a second. Their invasion is dirt cheap. Writing engaging software over a weekend, deploying in 8 billion copies, done. You can’t blame them for taking advantage of the best business opportunity in history. Maybe you should shift your attention to their shareholders, funders and advertisers. These are real beneficiaries - and they know perfectly well that these kids will suffer as a result throughout their lifetimes. Who knows, some of them may even be parents...
Kids that talk to AI all day are fucked whether the AI is lewd or not. It is the place of the parent, not the state or the CEO, to raise decent children.
Absolute filth
Being anti social isn't as bad as it's made out to be.
Thank you for this. I am a medical and social scientific research scientist involved with training people who work with children and adults with autism. I will be sending this piece to our University Center on Disability. One can only imagine what kind of damage this can do to children and young adults with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities. If the United States government does nothing, all that we want for our children may be lost. If the United States leads, many governments may follow.
Question: If this is affecting children and young adults, how do we know how much damage is being created by first second wave millennials who are now in politics and government? Some of the insanity we see among the younger set of sycophantic politicians seems to be more widespread than the older set of the same. Will these young adults be able to function in a society that is not geared to concern over their every need? Will these kids be hardy enough to manage the transition from the present crisis and into the next high period, as did the greatest generation?
As if I didn't like Meta or Zuckerberg already. This is atrocious