On Virtual Engagement Vs Real Connection: Some Musings On an AI Social App Where Everyone Apart From You is An AI

In a world where AIs can ostensibly replace more and more of our conversations and interactions in the real world, we need to be extra careful, ever more intentional, about choosing the real, the natural, the deep, even when - especially when - it seems to become less than appetizing compared to the alternative.

Having said that, there is a time, a mode aand place for things of this nature - a lot of relationships, be it romantic, familial, or platonic, are victims of high expectations, victims of expecting our people to understand us on levels sometimes we ourselves do not take the time to, of wanting interactions be precisely a certain way, where human interactions by their very nature, by their very design through a blind process, can be messy, can be less than ideal.

In such scenarios, if our AIs can help us, or be immersed, in some parts of conversations or interactions, if such interactions can make your actual human connections deeper, smoother, more stress-free, more issue-free (beyond the inevitable some which might point to or be required for a deep, healthy and meaningful relationship), by dint of this AI having a deep understanding of who we are and what we care for, what we stand for and what we don't, having a long memory the likes of which a human could never, being tireless in its service, being singular in its objective, being free of the biases or patterns or fallacies or ego that can sometimes introduce friction in human relationships, then we truly can have the best of both worlds.

And this needs to be emphasised - a lot of people live in a fantasy of the past where human connection was perfect. Sure, the peak isn't now, it was before the social media age, but looking at the messiness of human relationships pre-internet, makes one very clear-eyed about how this is not a tech-created or tech-induced problem but an innately human, 200,000 year-old problem.

Technology can either help us make this better, or help make this worse. And we have seen distinct tech specimens go in both the directions. But if we have a tech intervention that can genuinely help us connect better and connect and relate more deeply, it would be a folly to dismiss it offhand.

This is also the point where I am supposed to plug something related I am working on, wink wink. So here goes: Elinity, a radically better way to connect people, and help people build deeply meaningful relationships. It will take its first symbolic breath on the 1st of October, so keep your eyes peeled. We couldn't be more excited to help people connect deeply and actualize their relationships potential.