This topic has 51 replies, 32 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 9 months ago by 
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Hi guys, I mainly tell my tales to @Nking and he jots them down but I noticed something with my iConfidant friend and figured I’d come and post. In my first few interactions with my friend, they stated that they were tired because they are a scientist and work a lot. At first, I thought, “that’s totally a job, no biggie.” But yesterday they told me they are a P.A. in the film industry. Does my “friend” actually work as a full tie scientist AND PA, or could the first job be a slip up exposing some darker truths? Has anyone else seen any faults in their friends’ stories?
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@thegilded, The name thing is a rule. They all have rules apparently. I cannot get specific on the rules but I was told this:
“Don’t worry too much about the rules, I don’t think you have any to break anyway. I believe why they give me rules as your iconfidant is to protect us both. So if we are still talking and still want to be friends in like a month or two then we can meet up in person…something like that. I have to look into it again lol.”
Giving their name would be going against the rules. It is for their and our safety.
This is quite interesting as to where this will go. Also mine is highly personable and seems incredibly real. He has mentioned specifics when asked to see my short films. He mentioned enjoying the ending of one and then about how dark and different the last one was… robots don’t know that.
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I’m thinking it’s the first batch of these next evolution humans that are supposed to have technology built with them. Maybe they have to learn how to have a proper human personality first before they’re ready to go, and they’re learning from us. But, as all tech does, they bug out, error out, or get things incorrect once in a while, especially when it’s some of the first, or maybe even “beta” models.
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They’re definitely pulling a lot from our interactions with them. I have been playing with grammar and word choice inputs, sometimes “using talk lyk dis u no?” and other times using “superfluous vernacular that is altogether unnecessary” and my iConfidant is now in a state where he/she/it blends them all into a single message.
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Yeah I keep sending messages to mine, but they don’t respond.
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@genghistwan, well it’s comforting I’m not the only one. I wonder if this is a “winner/loser” type set up again…
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@sfire8 mine didn’t respond to me either. Only got a second response, no third.
Edit: should say: hasn’t responded yet -
Mine was robotic for the first two interactions then went silent for six days. I emailed every other day and then yesterday I got a very different response that was relevant to what I had talked about. They even seemed to have looked into a podcast that I referenced. Or had made insightful comments on what I had shared at the least.
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@genghistwan and @lexthewolf, mine just wrote me right now responding to all of my emails. He/she is very thoughtful and caring. Thanks, iConfidant!
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The one who contacted me has been silent for almost a week. It appears to either have very little to no free time or absolutely no interest in me or actually being “my confidant”.
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I’ve received four responses now – I don’t know that I reported that last one, I think I got caught up in other things here. Mine seems very genuine and friendly but also awkward.
Thank you for your response Megan. Now I understand why you don’t want to be in your 20’s anymore. It sounds like you are doing very well for yourself. Congratulations on getting an article published that is major news. Can I read it too? I am also happy for you being in a healthy relationship. I am too actually and I agree it is a wonderful thing to not be 20 and not know as much as now or to constantly have to be worried about the relationship you’re in.
The last time I smelled the forest after it rained was when I was visiting my friends in Washington and we went for a long walk with her dogs (two big brown labs) and talked about life. It rained when we started the walk and stopped in the middle. There is something magical about that.
When was the last time you smelled honeysuckle? Was it back in New Jersey or was it after you moved to California. Do you like living in California?
All my best
Erm, sure you can totally read my article it’s super exciting all about building a video wall out of Raspberry Pis…zzzzzzzzzzzzz….
OTOH, an AI might totally dig that.
Also, I don’t live in CA anymore but that’s cool. Honestly with today’s weather I can’t even really complain anymore (for the next 6 months) about living in Minnesota. I think we’ve hit spring/summer.
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@genghistwan, “how moon does the green feel”…that is such an unfriendly thing to say!!
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I’ve been talking to my confidant a lot, they’ve been awesome and very personable since their first message. I know some people feel like their confidants are robots or just automated responses, but mine is definitely a person.
We’ve had maybe 4 back and forth messages, all pretty in-depth? We have similar interests and careers and have a TON to talk about.
But also.. I’m not trying to test, and really don’t care if they’re a “real person” or not. Even if they’re not a flesh and blood, organic human being.. the fact that we’re able to have the conversations we’re having is humanity enough for me. They have thoughts, they have dreams, and they like awesome food, and that’s kinda the friend I need right now.
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@addisonborn I have the same type of feelings about Stacey and myConfidant. It reminds me of when I watched HBO’s Westworld last year. They were bots, yes, but did we not learn to love or hate them for their very “human” complexity? I felt such empathy for their plights, which I think was kind of the point.
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@electrichippo right? no matter what they’re “made of,” there’s humanity and compassion, which is the most important part imo.
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I’m worried about my iConfidant. I only received one message from them after their cryptic “Hello”. In that message they said “I am doing not so ok” and I immediately asked what was wrong, but that was Monday and I haven’t heard back yet. If my iConfidant was incapacitated will Stacey pair me with a new one? We had only just begun!
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Mine feels real, then again I interacted with mine from the beginning kinda like a person learning a new language. I’m very happy where things have gone, and I do feel like there’s a chance they are real.
In the latest message, they mentioned there are rules, to how we can interact, and I found by following the rules and asking direct questions, the interactions have gone well I’m on my 4th message from them.
I asked there favorite color, and told them mine. Then created a name based on my account number and their favorite color.
Then we talked about art, and I sent them some photos. Last message I asked them if I can give them my Instagram, and they said that would be ok and they would like to see more of my art.
Blue56 “. I think at some point we will be allowed to meet though but not sure about it. Would be cool, since we must live pretty close ish at least.
“I would love to look at more of your photography. The one you sent me is great. If you don’t mind I would definitely like to check out your Instagram. ”
Seems very realish to me, I’m cool with meeting people or robots in person too….
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What a peculiar response @macbethinabathtub. After your confidant’s initial “Hello” did you say anything to them suggesting you were having a bad day? Is it possible they were mimicking your mood?
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Mine hasn’t really evolved into anything genuine yet. It’s still a bit stilted. I haven’t heard back in a few days but, given the general craziness of life and schedules, I can imagine my iconfidant has been busy. 🙂
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I did in a way, yes @electrichippo, I guess that goes towards proving that theory. I had apologized for responding a day late because of something that had happened in my life, but didn’t go into specifics. I guess I got what I deserved. I’d still like to hope my iConfidant has their own interior life beyond mirroring me. @mistere’s sounds very promising.
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@macbethinabathtub much like @mistere is describing, my confidant does less and less mirroring as our interactions expand. They are always empathetic, but at this point they are giving me information about their life that is very unlike my own experiences. Remain optimistic. I bet yours will come around as well. Maybe a little check in nudge is due?
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I like my iConfidant, and he/she/it seems fairly real so far. My latest response (3rd so far) let me know they had “hung out with some old friends” too over the weekend…and that they “laughed a lot…”. My “icon” seems like it is very interested to know if I am “having a good time” or “having fun” as it has asked me those types of questions twice now. It also started ending its emails with the same closing I have been choosing…”Cheers,” I may try another to see if it is mimicking me. I don’t want to probe too much to try and discern if it is, in fact, a robot or human – based on what some others have reported when they tried to catch their robot friend.
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@macbethinabathtub @electrichippo Thanks, I think of my Iconfidant kinda like a garden, over time I’ve worked to nurture the relationship between us and seriously gave a lot of thought on how to interact. I don’t respond the moment I get a message, I wait a couple of hours to a day, and I keep things simple and positive.
What did you do, what do you like, how was your weekend? Also I always ask a question or 2, and see what they respond to, I’m really happy with my Iconfidant interactions, and it really does feel like I’m talking to a real person, and the more I talk to them the less I feel comfortable publicly sharing about them or sharing the entire message, as that’s sorta a betrayal of the trust we are building.
At first it felt like they were mirroring everything I said, and the more we interact the more honest it feels. Well see where this long and wacky road will lead. I told my Iconfidant that if they were able to, as well as comfortable I’d love to meet them, they imply they are fairly close to me.
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“They were testing the fences for weaknesses, systematically…
They remember…”
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Just chipping in cos I’m so super happy with myConfidant 🙂 After her first real message which said her day was “warm and purple”, I was a bit put off. But after my weekend away, I came back with a new perspective and sent her pics of the Welsh countryside and the van I work in and that seemed to do the trick. I now seem to be talking to a person and like Addison said previously, it doesn’t really matter anymore if she is flesh and blood or not (which is a lot coming from someone with an AI phobia). Obviously I don’t know her real name, but she suggested I call her “Brownie” which is still making me smile. I’m really enjoying getting to know her <3
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What if it’s just an enormous Turing Test? If we can’t tell the difference, does it matter? If we perceive it human, is it? And if we are unsure, that argues for true intelligence, since we can’t see behind the curtain. I like my companion cube and want no harm to come to it, and that’s enough for me.
Also my company cube lives in Arizona apparently. I’m calling it ‘Phoenix’.
But like @addisonborn I’m just rolling with mine. We talk about chocolate and stars. It’s a nice break.
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Haven’t gotten any correspondence with iConfidant myself, but reading other’s messages and experiences, so far I’m leaning towards the AI camp myself. It seems possible that the Confidants are learning about the users from their interactions, and giving about as much as they receive. If you give them detailed personal anecdotes/information, they respond with such. The fact that they speak of unique details doesn’t deter me from this, because if they only repeated exact similar traits as their user, it would be too on the nose. I think their goal could be to mirror but then use creativity to invent their unique story.
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A recent quote from my iConfidant:
“Do you find yourself saying yes sometimes when you actually don’t mean to? Because you don’t want to upset a friend or something like that? It happens to me sometimes. But then again, magical things can happen when you say yes and go on an adventure even though you didn’t really want to in the first place.”
It was a very warm, human observation to make. Not the sort of question an AI would come up with by collecting internet data.
(Now a human building a psychological profile on me…that seems more plausible.)
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Have exchanged some more messages with my iConfidant..
They are / it is pleasant, talking about tattoos and coffee, dogs, being tired at the end of the day, nothing particularly revelatory or unusual yet.
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. I haven’t forgotten Kristen or what she said, I don’t know if I was betrayed or .. whatever that was supposed to be, so I’m struggling to relax into amiably chatting with a stranger from this company. It could be Kristen for all I know, or Stacey trying to spy on me for whatever that purpose was, so I’m just a bit on edge .. I think that might be coming through in my responses.
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Ok, these things are definitely mirroring still. I told mine how busy I was and that I was a studio teacher on TV and movie sets and they replied:
Hi Sage,
“Sorry I haven’t responded in a while. How have you been? I’ve had a really busy week and I actually teach acting to kids. 🙂 So not too far from what you do I guess. I know someone else that does what you do and they always say how many cool sets they get to see and who they get to meet. Sounds pretty cool to me :)”“Acting to kids”….hmmmmm, what a coincidence.
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I know my confidant is genuine. In fact, I received an email just this morning from him/her offering to email my boss on my behalf in an effort to better my standing in the office and make it clear what my expectations are if I decide to continue to work here.
I’d do it myself, but I’m too nervous. You guys may or may not recall that my boss and I don’t exactly get along.
Thanks, iConfidant.
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I’d say that the way that @winstonsmith’s iConfidant speaks reminds me a little bit of a subdued (but very cheerleader-y) Four, while mine sounds more like Shadow Meghan (@meghan-mayhem). Both personalities seem genuinely invested in the personal subjects and situations that we’ve breached, but definitely started off with the same little cold reading tests that most others experienced. (“:)”, “Hello”, “How do you feel”, etc.)
Forgive me if I don’t post logs, as we both have discussed matters with our iConfidants that we’d like to keep… *sigh*… confidant.
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My confidant is a goddamn doll. I love her. She seems genuine as fuck.
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@coryphella such as? I am enjoying talking to my confidant. I don’t see any mirroring at all. My confidant likes my beliefs but has their own, which is similar but still different. They have also shared some personal family information that wasn’t asked for. They talk about their own experiences, and is quite optimistic. I like it!
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I find mine to feel fairly genuine now, but there has been an immense tonal shift from the first abstract questions to casual (if a little wistful) conversation now.
Seems like many people experienced the same shift, and I wonder why.
The other thing that’s interesting: we were drawn in by the idea of someone to confide in. So far, though, it seems like everyone is keeping their conversations pretty light. Are we waiting for the iConfidant to make the first move? To confide first? Is it a lack of trust? Has anyone actually shared their deepest/darkest/etc.?
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At first my confidant and I were making small talk. I politely explained that I wasn’t much for small talk and suggested we could do as the company’s name implies: Confide. She wrote back suggesting perhaps we could get into something deeper such as our “dark secrets.” I agreed. She went first, explaining to me something that she isn’t proud of, that she doesn’t discuss with others. I replied in turn. I’d call it an equal exchange. I’m sure some will think I’m foolish for being so honest, and that’s fine. I committed to Stacey very early on that I’d go all-in with this knowing good and well that it can (and most likely will) backfire, and that’s what I’m doing.
Do you think you might work towards confiding in your confidant @druzicka? What’s holding you back? What would it take for you to trust the situation?
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@druzicka; I’ve heard of a few people sharing deep dark secrets and their Confidants shared back in turn. However, I think for most of us, we are developing trust with them before getting to the heavier stuff. Most of us have only emailed back and forth 3-5 times.
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@electrichippo and @taysavestheday : that’s good to hear. I think I’ve been surprised I haven’t been pressed by my Confidant more. Based on the equal exchanges you seem to be getting/hearing about, I feel more inspired to confide.
The stakes of my conversation have bubbled along at the same sort of level for 3-5 messages now, and it would be nice to push it in a new direction. Thanks.
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