I had no idea this was even happening. Wow.
The rise of virtual artificial intelligence (AI) girlfriends is enabling the silent epidemic of loneliness in an entire generation of young men. It is also having severe consequences for America’s future.
How is something that seems so ridiculous — a virtual AI girlfriend — causing a future crisis among Americans? Well, with millions of users, apps have created virtual girlfriends that talk to you, love you, allow you to live out your erotic fantasies, and learn, through data, exactly what you like and what you don’t like, creating the “perfect” relationship.
These virtual girlfriends can even be based on real people. One influencer created an AI bot of herself named Caryn, then gained over 1,000 users (i.e. real boyfriends) in less than a week and a waitlist of more than 15,000 people.
. . . Let’s look at the hard numbers. More than 60 percent of young men (ages 18-30) are single, compared to only 30 percent of women the same age. One in five men report not having a single close friend, a number that has quadrupled in the last 30 years. The amount of social engagement with friends dropped by 20 hours per month over the pandemic and is still decreasing.
These young men are lonely, and it is having real consequences. They are choosing AI girlfriends over real women, meaning they don’t have relationships with real women, don’t marry them and then don’t have and raise babies with them. America desperately needs people to have more babies, but all the signs are pointing toward fewer relationships, fewer marriages and fewer babies. There have been 600,000 fewer births in 2023 in the U.S. relative to 15 years ago. The number of children per woman has decreased by more than 50 percent in the last 60 years.
(more)
It's interesting how often I see people here advocating for living wages. That's something I've always associated with liberals.
It was just a few years ago that the idea of paying a burger flipper $15/hr would make people angry.
What has changed?
I'm not criticizing you for your post or ideas. I am curious why attitudes concerning living wages has changed so much among conservatives.
Nothing has changed, burger flippers still don't, and never have, deserved a "living wage". Being a fry cook at Burger King is not a career. It's a short term Job meant for Teenagers to get their feet wet in the world of employment and earning their own money.
HOWEVER, when people with actual skills and careers (E.G.: Mechanics, Ambulance Drivers, Police Officers, Welders, Construction Workers, etc. etc.) Can no longer afford the basic necessities to just live an average life, the average income isn't enough.
I remember seeing an article a week or so ago, that the only job/company in the United States where wages have actually kept up properly with inflation was UPS and FEDEX drivers because of company policy set by the founders.
And that's why UPS and FEDEX drivers make, on average, $170K a year. That's how much value our money has lost since the FED was established (UPS was established in 1907, several years before the FED was established).
So yes, I'm all for an actual living wage for REAL jobs and careers, but the 15 year old calling me a dickhead under his breath for asking for extra sweet and sour sauce for my nuggets doesn't deserve the equivalent of $170K for working 10-15 hours a week flipping burgers after school and during the holidays.
Minimum wage isn't the problem, really and truly corporate profits aren't either (though it IS rather crappy to not give your employees a raise when times are good). The problem is inflation is so ridiculous now, that to equal a living wage, you have to make six figures.
Understood
I thought the large salary UPS drivers make (or will eventually make after completing a 5 year contract) was due to negotiations with Teamsters after a strike threat.
I don't think FedEx pays nearly the same, and UPS drivers have not always made such good money. All that came about this year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-workers-comments-170k-ups-driver-deal-anger-admiration-2023-8
I just remember the article I read and what it said. Fine me for repeating after some random internet article (probably forbes or something). But the point still stands, if you take the average income for most major cities in 1930 ($5,000-$7,000 a year), you're still in the six figure range if you account for inflation ($110K-$130K).
Still way above what most "average incomes" are in the USA currently, and INFINTIELY more than a burger flipping 15 year old deserves.