Maybe help relieve loneliness as an adjunct to normal care but certainly not 'cure' it and an AI grandchild cannot replace care. Elderly people need all sorts of care beyond what a grandchild, AI or natural, can provide.
this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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Fuck AI
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AI, in this case, refers to LLMs, GPT technology, and anything listed as "AI" meant to increase market valuations.
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I would eat a bullet before this.
This is how Terminator starts.
Google is Skynet.
Robots living in society.
Alright, someone get Arnold Schwartsanager on the line. First question is if he actually did travel back to the 80s to warn us of this exact reality.
Second question......How does he remember how to spell his own name??? I can't remember how to spell it, and therefore assume no one can.
Xbox promised it ~15 years ago, but not just to seniors. Powered by Project Natal (later renamed Kinect, since discontinued) it gave you a little boy named Milo you could interact with. He appeared to be about 8 and he could help with homework and was basically a virtual pet in human form. IIRC they quietly announced you could choose a girl as well, but she was never shown (I wonder why /s) or named. The game/software never released. I’m not sure if the build they showed was ever leaked or not or even if it was a real thing or not.
The child AI idea predates that. Sword Art Online had Yui, and .hack had Aura, though she was catatonic for most of the first season. There was also Spielberg’s AI: Artificial Intelligence in 2001. Going back way further, Small Wonder on TV. The little robot girl from the 1970s or 1980s. Probably many more.
These days, it would probably be a phone app. Like a virtual assistant like Siri. It could be a child of either gender or neither (agender) or it could be an anthropomorphic animal, like a furry, or the villagers you meet in Animal Crossing. It also doesn’t have to be young and cute. You could get Master Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for example.
Not saying it’s a good thing, just that it wouldn’t necessarily look like a child and it doesn’t have to be a robot.
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH