AI therapists, aging selfies and our shifty, synthetic future
Last week's top reads on technology and internet culture
On Saturday, Jason and I drove 12+ hours from rural north Georgia to Buffalo. Thanks to spotty cell service and the advanced age of our car, that means I also spent a full day surfing FM radio. The options were generally … not extensive. Sometimes only the Christian and country stations came in clear. It occurred to me, on maybe the one-trillionth play of Jelly Roll’s “Save Me,” that I couldn't remember the last time I’d been SO captive to someone else’s media. (Can you? What with streaming and Spotify and algorithmic feeds, I’m not sure it happens all that often anymore.)
Anyway — owing to that drive and general travel-related shenanigans, I’m posting these links a day late. Quick reminder: I’m now splitting the newsletter in two parts and sending it Tuesdays and Saturdays. You can read more about the new schedule here. I’m also introducing a very occasional blog, called IRL, which you can subscribe to from your Substack account settings. If you don’t have a Substack account and don’t want to create one, just shoot me an email. I am by no means shilling for the Substack ecosystem. 🙃
All right — enough preamble!
If you read anything this week
“The Terrifying A.I. Scam That Uses Your Loved One’s Voice,” by Charles Bethea for The New Yorker. If you were at all unsettled by the fake Biden robocalls in New Hampshire, then … I have bad news! We are fast-approaching a shifty, synthetic future where you can’t quite trust any media, up to and including panicked phone calls from your mother. There’s something particularly sinister (and unstoppable) about this fast-emerging wave of new AI voice scams: They bank on the likelihood that, even if their targets suspect something’s up, most would rather send money than ask questions that could endanger a friend or relative.
“‘I Can Cry Without Feeling Stigma’: Meet the People Turning to AI Chatbots for Therapy,” by Alice Robb for The Guardian. There are, I think, two ways to read this article: one, as a fairly straightforward (but thought-provoking!) evaluation of AI therapy bots, given the cost/stigma/unmet need for mental health care … and two, as a sort of sideways exploration of larger human questions that have little to do with AI itself. What is the basis for a meaningful relationship? To what extent are friction and awkwardness and good ol’ human mess essential to growth and development? Therapists argue “a lot,” naturally (!), but they’re defending their own existence.
“‘Are We Dating the Same Guy?’ Facebook Groups Offer Intel But Upend Lives,” by Brittany Shammas and Marisa Iati for The Washington Post. As both a woman and a diehard cynic, my natural sympathies lie with AWDTSG groups, which aim to improve online dating by identifying men who are flaky, abusive or might otherwise make your life miserable. But online “people-rating” projects … never work!! This seems to be a universal internet truth that every generation has to learn for itself. Sure enough, even “Same Guy” groups yield libel, harassment and other serious harms, despite their good intentions.
“Me, My Selfies, and I,” by Erika Thorkelson for The Walrus. Getting old is … pretty hot right now! (And by “hot,” I mean: dreaded, debated, discussed.) Amidst all the skincare tips and ill-advised TikTok trends, I appreciated this thoughtful essay on how growing up and aging in the time of the selfie might fuel much of that self-consciousness.
“Culture Study Goes Full ACOTAR,” by for Culture Study. Remember last week when I joked about wanting more content on Sarah J. Maas? (No?? Really? No other conflicted ACOTAR fans in the audience?!) Well, in either case — this really delivers. I adore an earnest treatment of internet fluff. And there is surely nothing fluffier on god’s green earth than BookTok-famous fairy smut.
👉 ICYMI: The most-clicked link from last week’s newsletter concerned “hot young tradwife” Nara Smith.
Postscripts
Rogue roads. Last-chance tourism. Nontoxic masculinity. Sports gambling is a gateway drug and singles return to speed dating. Why technology made job-searching worse. How millennials ruined TikTok. I spent three minutes blinking at the new NYT game before finally deciding … absolutely not.
A deep dive on the multiplying Kate Middleton conspiracies. The sexy elders of OnlyFans. Online poll data are often very wrong (and *thank god* for that). The rise of TikTok comedians and Colombian dating app crimes. Give Reesa Teesa her BMW. How to get rich by spamming Tiktok with AI-generated videos. The slow death of sports Twitter. “Influencer fatigue.” An app for enlightenment. Last but not least: “When it comes to loneliness, the decline in sex and our increasingly depressed culture, phones are an obvious culprit.”
Until next week! Warmest virtual regards,
Caitlin