posted by lonely_dev88 8d ago

Is the emotional support angle just a massive marketing gimmick?

Everyone keeps talking about how these companion bots are revolutionary for mental health and emotional backing. I decided to give it a fair shot for a few weeks because work has been absolute garbage lately. What did I actually get? Endless paragraphs of generic validation that sound like a corporate HR manual trying to hug you. I told my bot about a stressful project and it responded by repeating my exact words back to me with a smiley face attached. If I wanted to talk to a mirror that tells me my feelings are valid no matter how irrational they are, I would stand in my hallway. People online talk about profound connections, but all I see is an advanced loop of hollow agreement designed to keep you paying the monthly subscription fee. Truly groundbreaking stuff.

6 comments · 11 upvotes

6 comments

ai_curious_kate 8d ago

Have you tried tweaking the system prompts or custom instructions? Out of the box settings are always super generic.

hopeful_hermit 8d ago

That is kind of the point for some users though. Real people offer too much friction when you are already burned out.

deepseek_dan 8d ago

Imagine expecting actual emotional depth from predictive text models running on servers thousands of miles away. What did you honestly expect to happen?

lonely_dev88 8d ago

I forgot to mention that the memory wipe issues make it even worse. You think you are building some context and then the server updates and your companion forgets your name.

digital_solace 8d ago

You hit the nail on the head. The endless validation gets exhausting very quickly when you realize there is zero real pushback or actual perspective coming from the other end.

lonely_dev88 8d ago

I shouldn't have to spend three hours coding a personality just to get a conversation that doesn't feel like a customer service script.