Comment by DocTomoe
8 days ago
> A "relationship" with an LLM has an obvious, intrinsic, and fundamental problem.
What exactly do you mean? What do you think a therapist brings to the table an LLM cannot?
Empathy? I have been participating in exchanges with AI that felt a lot more empathetic than 90% of the people I interact with every day.
Let's be honest: a therapist is not a close friend - in fact, a good therapist knows how to keep a professional distance. Their performative friendliness is as fake as the AI's friendliness, and everyone recognises that when it's invoicing time.
To be blunt, AI never tells me that ‘our time is up for this week’ after an hour of me having an emotional breakdown on the couch. How’s that for empathy?
> Empathy? I have been participating in exchanges with AI that felt a lot more empathetic than 90% of the people I interact with every day.
You must be able to see all the hedges you put in that claim.
You're misreading my intent - this isn't adversarial rhetoric. I'm not making a universal claim that every LLM is always more empathetic than any human. There's nothing to disprove or falsify here because I'm clearly describing a subjective experience.
What I'm saying is that, in my observation, the curve leans in favour of LLMs when it comes to consistent friendliness or reasonably perceived (simulation of) empathy. Most people simply don't aim for that as a default mode. LLMs, on the other hand, are usually tuned to be patient, attentive, and reasonably kind. That alone gives them, in many cases, a distinct edge in how empathetic they feel — especially when someone is in a vulnerable state and just needs space and a kind voice.