Currents: Secret Digital Soulmates; What the DSA Really Believes
News isn’t only about the headlines, but also about the deeper currents that perniciously change your world. Here are two such stories today.
Secret Soulmates: 1 in 7 Young Adults in Committed Relationships Still Chat with an AI Romantic Companion
https://wheatley.byu.edu/secret-soulmates-ai-romantic-companions-and-real-life-relationships
“A surprising number of young adults in real-life romantic relationships are simultaneously maintaining secret romantic interactions with AI chatbot companions.”
This is according to a report that BYU’s Wheatley Institute participated in with the Institute of Family Studies. The dangers are real and the numbers are higher than you’d expect.
“Key to all these findings is the fact that the study found that the use of AI romantic companion technologies appears to be associated with negative relationship quality in real-life romantic relationships. The report found that AI romantic companion use is particularly linked to lower levels of real-life relationship stability and an increased likelihood that couples will break up or divorce. The use of AI romantic companions was also linked to lower quality communication patterns with real-life romantic partners.
“Despite the high levels of secrecy and the potential negative effects of engaging in these behaviors, many of the young adults reported generally positive attitudes about their AI romantic companion use and reported few reservations about their continued engagement with such companions while in a real-life romantic relationship. However, the study found that among those who regularly chat with an AI romantic companion, nearly 7 in 10 (68%) reported that it was somewhat or completely true that it was easier to talk to their AI companion about their feelings than real people and nearly two thirds (65%) reported that it was easier for them to be themselves with their AI companions.
“The researchers also found that these perceptions of openness and connection, combined with an AI companion’s complete focus on validating their feelings, appear to be influencing how some users of AI romantic companions view interactions with their real-life romantic partners. The study found that 50% of AI romantic companion users agreed that they wished their real-life partner would behave more like their AI companion and an even higher percentage (56%) reported that they wished that conversations with their real-life partner were more like their conversations with their AI companion.”
I Was in the DSA. Here’s What They Really Believe.
https://www.thefp.com/p/i-was-in-the-dsa-heres-what-they
A member of the DSA for 12 years from 2010 to 2022 described what DSA really believes in The Free Press.
“An answer to that question arrived last week in the form of a new platform. Among the DSA’s core aims are ending the presidency and Supreme Court. Abolishing prisons. Universal free housing. The elimination of all debt. Closing all U.S. military bases overseas. Lifting all sanctions from Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran. And so much more.”
“Workers Deserve More!”—is the title of the new platform, designed to present a smile to the world hiding its radical proposals. It advocates the end of capitalism and promises “’You don’t pay a mortgage or have a landlord, because comfortable housing is a right.’”
“It goes on to promise open borders, the abolition of the police, ‘free’ everything and guaranteed jobs.”
This is not your fairy godmother talking but, in a dangerous trend, many candidates winning elections across the United States today.