The article employs numerous fearmongering opinions to try to mask the fact that it's basically advocating against people's ability to try to improve a bad situation.

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way from the start is that it tries to manipulate via a "you're smart if you agree with me because everyone is too stupid to see the truth" thing. Does anyone really not know that an LLM they're interacting with isn't a person? Maybe a few, but the overwhelming majority know that they're interacting with a computer and are actively engaging in the fantasy of it. The movie "Toy Story" comes to mind. Fantasy play isn't (and shouldn't be) limited to children.

Companion robots will be a good thing. Sex robots too. And the more human-like the better. Some people end up alone, lonely, without close friends or family. Or maybe have sexual attractions outside the norm. It's very easy to victim blame or say that they deserved it or whatever. But if someone actually cares about easing human suffering or lessening adult suicides then AI companions are one of the extremely few good things to come from LLMs. Sure, not the same as a real person, but absolutely better than nothing. Note that we're talking about adults using LLMs here, not children or teens.

And before someone comments: no, nobody cares that you put in the effort and counseling or drugs worked for you and you have a million friends and great love life and it all worked out for you. It doesn't work out for everyone despite the amount of effort they might have put in. Not everyone's life or situation is the same as yours.

I think what this article really comes down to is two things:

1. Absolute hatred of AI and AI companies: hard to disagree with that! But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Conversation is an area where LLMs can benefit people.

2. An "ick" factor: too bad! This knee-jerk disgust response is to blame for so much suffering in the world. Part of being in a society is tolerating those with different opinions or different sensibilities than you have. Back in the day there was the phrase "live and let live". Just because something might not be valuable to me or even harmful to me doesn't mean that someone else might not benefit from it. Think of how much of a scandal the Real Doll was back in the day, at least for some people. Demonizing LLM or AI companions is really just the same thing. And there's great potential for this technology to help some people. Why should I get to decide how someone else finds companionship or some measure of intimacy? Even if I find it distasteful it's really none of my business.

It's too late anyways. Japan and other Asian countries absolutely love humanoid robots. Theyve been racing each other to create lifelike robots for decades.

Does anyone really not know that an LLM they’re interacting with isn’t a person?

Yes, mentally vulnerable people and people trying to get support from a business and trying the chat agents etc.

There are intentionally obscured LLM bots everywhere

Sex robots

This was my first thought too.

All tech is driven by pr0n, we've known this since VHS vs Betamax.