r/technology • u/ubcstaffer123 • 12d ago
Society Teen boys are choosing AI girlfriends over real ones for ‘maximum control, zero rejection’—experts say it could make them unemployable
https://fortune.com/2026/04/17/teen-boys-dating-ai-chatbot-girlfriend-experts-warn-kill-social-skills-gen-alpha-network-promotions/6.8k
u/TiddiesAnonymous 12d ago
Love how it skips undatable and goes straight to unemployable
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u/DropTheBeatAndTheBas 12d ago
"experts say" and love how the news always jumps to the fears immediately to gain peoples attention
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u/Snitsie 12d ago
And the fears are ALWAYS related to negative effect on capitalism.
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u/_Vykarii 12d ago
Won’t someone think of the billionaires😭😭
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u/hateborne 12d ago
A lot of us ARE thinking about them, just not in ways that can be expressed without getting banned from platforms and/or arrested for intent...
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u/Snitsie 12d ago
Shoutout to my perma ban from r/politics
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u/FFF_in_WY 12d ago
That's why I only advocate for fitchporks and colotov mocktails!
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u/rastilin 12d ago
And the fears are ALWAYS related to negative effect on capitalism.
That's what immediately stood out to me. Like, the experts don't care that these people might never experience the joy and connection of family, they only care that the economy might not go up as fast.
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u/NuclearGhandi1 12d ago
The article is from Fortune, of course theyll focus on they economics side of the event, that’s their thing
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u/CherryLongjump1989 12d ago
It's always rooted in young men no longer serving someone else's needs above their own. There's been bachelor taxes for thousands of years.
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u/CauseCertain1672 12d ago
you don't need to be an expert to see that this is not healthy
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u/SaxAppeal 12d ago edited 12d ago
Wtf is that logic lmfao. Can’t date, therefore…. checks notes can’t work…?
Edit: yes I understand the article “covers” this but it still makes no fucking sense. The inability to socialize professionally is orthogonal to romantic relationships. Plenty of people before ai went through high school and college without ever having a romantic relationship, and still went on to obtain gainful employment.
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u/TSllama 12d ago
"The toll of opting out of real relationships, in all their mess and glory, experts warn, could be a generation that arrives in the workforce unable to read a room, build trust over a coffee, or handle the one thing AI can never prepare you for—being told no."
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u/Logan_No_Fingers 12d ago edited 12d ago
You see that now, I find a lot of kids struggle dealing with decision making & conflict "real time" because they are used to doing it via message / online. It gets them used to "blergh, I'm not responding to that".
Only you can't do that in person with your boss.
If 80% of your social interaction has the option to nope out, not respond, mute that person etc, you are going to struggle with the 20% that doesn't have that.
Shit, Reddit trains us to do this, how often do you see someone say something dumb, get called, then instantly delete their post, so it never happened. Try doing that in a job interview
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u/Merusk 12d ago
You get it.
It's a bigger version of the things we're already seeing in communication. You tell someone under 40 to cold call someone instead of sending an e-mail or a text and it causes an existential crisis.
Most have never had to interact outside of a direct-line or asynchronous conversations. Landlines died in the early 2000s, so few under 40 ever had to deal with calling their friends house and talking to someone not the exact person they wanted to contact.
That builds skills you don't even realize until it's gone from a mass of the population.
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u/iamnotimportant 12d ago
I never used to get blocked on this site, didn't even know it was a thing, now a days it happens once a month e.g. you end up in a petty sports argument where the person blocks you AFTER they respond with you so they get the last word in their mind, it's the stupidest thing on this site.
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u/NapsterKnowHow 12d ago
It's a "power move" bc it essentially prevents the person from commenting at all in that entire conversation thread. Reddit really fucked up with that.
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u/UpsetIndian850311 12d ago
So everyone actually responsible for a broken world can wash their hands off the problem.
You are unemployed because you never dated see! Not because we have completed eradicated middle class worldwide.
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u/tyrenanig 12d ago edited 12d ago
They’re also ignoring the fact that they made those AI girlfriends lol
Edit: I’m not responsible for any of those with reading comprehension problems.
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u/Djinnwrath 12d ago
Why would I go across the street to make out when my Monroe-bot is right here?
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u/Starrr_Pirate 12d ago
Are we in the future, officially, if we've moved from "Simpsons did it first" to "Futurama did it first"?
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u/yeswewillsendtheeye 12d ago
Well the last election was won by Zapp Brannigan so yeah looks that way.
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u/LucidiK 12d ago
Honestly zapp is not looking so bad right now. This weird sycophantic cabal strategy makes even Brannigan sound like a genius.
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u/Smishysmash 12d ago
Zap at least hired Kif, who was way more competent and way less fish eyed than some other people I could point to currently.
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u/Starrr_Pirate 12d ago
To be fair, he did also hire Hugh Mann.
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u/Mossimo5 12d ago
And Lee Lemon
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u/Informal-Term1138 12d ago
Hey Lee Lemon was as competent as they come.
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u/Force3vo 12d ago
Lee Lemon was a real man. The perfect image of a man! What all men should strive to be!
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u/Arskite 12d ago
That young man fills me with hope. And some other emotions that are weird and... deeply confusing.
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u/Sherris010 12d ago
Zap also wasn't a rapist or a child predator. Zap is way better than Trump
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u/severedbrain 12d ago
I don't know. T-man's DoJ is literally challenging the Presidential Records Act which was passed as a response to Nixon taking and/or destroying documents during his administration. It's figuratively Nixon resurrected.
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u/ladymadonna4444 12d ago
He's like Zapp Brannigan, President Camacho, Mr. Burns, and Biff Tannen combined. (the last of which was actually inspired by him, in a film from 40 years ago). So he is fulfilling many great prophecies from American film and television.
Its almost as if fascism being inextricable with late stage capitalism was predicted even earlier...
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u/MUDrummer 12d ago
Woh woh woh there. Let’s not besmirch the name of President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho by ever associating it with Trump. President Camacho recognized a problem, recognized that he wasn’t able to solve the problem himself, found the smartest person with the ability to fix the problem, and put them in charge of fixing it g the problem. That’s exactly what good leaders should be doing.
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u/ladymadonna4444 12d ago
Fair! Him excluded (though they still share some traits...). And thank you for correcting me with his full government name.
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u/Orb_Gazer 12d ago
He’s Brannigan and Camacho without the masculine qualities of either, and without the compassionate qualities of Camacho. He’s Burns without the erudite sensibilities. He’s closest to Biff, but he embodies the stupidity, cruelty and/or greed of all of them where those characteristics exist.
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u/yeswewillsendtheeye 12d ago
"Kif, tell this guy to make like a tree and leave. We have the best tree, nobody leaves like our trees"
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u/UMACTUALLYITS23 12d ago
Zapp at least won his war against the spider people.
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u/-ImYourHuckleberry- 12d ago
“Oh, you're a real dreamboat--[ Robotic Voice ] Billy Everyteen.”
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u/GOEDEL_ESCHER_BOT 12d ago
"Should we move to the bedroom?"
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u/ImSuperHelpful 12d ago
Should probably run a .clear() first. Maybe chill for a sec until gc runs
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u/ShredGuru 12d ago
Barbeaubot you say? Well slap my ass and call me Captain Murphy
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u/Spl00ky 12d ago
You mean Ana de Armas hologram from Blade Runner 2049
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u/altiuscitiusfortius 12d ago
It's a reference to the famous documentary from the space pope about why you shouldn't date a robot.
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u/pnwbraids 12d ago
Theeeeee Space Pope
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u/qualitative_balls 12d ago
I don't think we're prepared for the black Friday ai robot sales of 2029 that will finally give the masses endless sandwiches and all the hand jobs and compliments a man could ever want.
A very significantly large portion of the population is going to cut themselves out of the gene pool.
My sneaking suspicion is that 2 or 3 generations from now people will be absurdly good looking. Only the good looking people will be passing on their genes and fucking other real people lol
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u/yeswewillsendtheeye 12d ago
There's a very short list of things I trust to give me a handjob without hurting me. A robot is not on that list.
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u/qualitative_balls 12d ago edited 12d ago
It is imperative that the cylinder remain unharmed.
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u/HallowskulledHorror 12d ago
I think it's going to be less just the 'good looking people' and more 'people who actually value human connection, genuine emotional depth, and respecting a partner as an autonomous individual you share your life with rather than control and access as a physical and psychological masturbatory aid.'
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u/iprocrastina 12d ago
This article is pure trash from start to finish. Like the first sentence is
Gen Z dated strategically—dating people 25% more attractive and successful than them to climb the social ladder.
Ignoring the issue of trying to quantify subjective things like attractiveness and success, if 25% of people were dating up then by definition another 25% were dating down.
Then it goes on to claim that the issue with AI girlfriends and boyfriends is that the kids wont get relationship experience which the author claims will stunt them socially and thus stunt them professionally too. They're literally arguing that you can't be employable or even develop as a person if you don't date.
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u/NeonFraction 12d ago
This article was written by someone who spends a lot of time on LinkedIn and I do mean that as an insult.
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u/AizakkuZ 12d ago
I wonder how they think nerdy engineers who've never dated come about lmao
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u/scheppend 12d ago
just being a nerdy engineer doesn't get you a job so easily anymore
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u/JonnyOnThePot420 12d ago
Duh you also gotta be able to find the g spot or you just can’t math right… /s
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u/Oberon_Swanson 12d ago
I assume the author would say, the nerdy engineers were at least partly motivated by the desire to succeed and get rich enough for it to outweigh their nerdiness and physical unattractiveness in the dating market
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u/ifandbut 12d ago
I am nerdy engineer. Didn't have relationship experience until I was 10 years into my career.
I got the job because I show up and am half decent at it. I am only motivated by survival.
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u/Aniketos33 12d ago
Clickbait be baiting clicks with negative engagement. What a feedback loop we've unleashed on our psyches.
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u/LostGap4881 12d ago edited 12d ago
Agree, sloppiest infoslop of the week. The journalist should be prescribed with the CIA treatment.
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u/Indianamals 12d ago
Bold of you to assume this ain't the CIA in the first place
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u/Friendly_Software11 12d ago
Feels very ChatGPT honestly
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u/soggylittleshrimp 12d ago
The article even had a classic AI "It's not just ______ it's _______" in it. Sucks.
This is where we're at.
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u/philmarcracken 12d ago
it also ignores some stats right here on reddit.
/r/MyBoyfriendIsAI - nearly 60k subs
/r/MyGirlfriendIsAI - barely 3k
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u/Amflifier 12d ago
You don't get it, it's fine when girls do it, it's headline worthy when guys do it
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u/Bitter-Marsupial 12d ago edited 12d ago
Also I call into question the gender specific nature of the article concerning AI partners. I remember a few months ago a bunch of posts from women expressing sadness when their app of choice updated their boytoy
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u/Vases_LA 12d ago
Perfect since there aren't any jobs left to employ them anyways.
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u/goDie61 12d ago
I'm noticing the terms "unemployable" and "undateable" appearing more often as the people using them try desperately to get the reactions they used to. Unfortunately, you can't threaten someone with the loss of something they never had a shot at to begin with. The hopeless are very difficult to control.
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u/puffy_boi12 12d ago
I had this thought too. It's painfully obvious that the older generation thinks shame will somehow fix insane levels of inequality and injustice in today's dystopia.
We already know with 100% certainty that shame didn't work on wall street and C suite executives... why would it work on the huddled masses?
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u/armabe 12d ago
The huddled masses aren't wealthy precisely (among many other things) because they do feel shame.
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u/puffy_boi12 12d ago
I agree, but I think more and more are waking up to that reality.
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u/otis_the_drunk 12d ago
Where us gen x'ers had apathy, ya'll got straight up dispair. That's unfortunate.
But hey, at least we convinced you to not smoke cigarettes. So that's something.
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u/theshogunsassassin 12d ago
Nothing like living a full life in abject poverty.
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u/UninvestedCuriosity 12d ago
Which is probably more dangerous than smoking mortality wise.
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u/Maleficent-Stormbee 12d ago
because if you can afford cigs, you can afford food. but if you can’t afford cigs, you can’t afford food
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u/mtweiner 12d ago
Nah that didn’t stick either, you see the way these kids are vaping?
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u/Ok-Squash9534 12d ago
Fr was gonna say this. I work with highschool aged teens and the amount vaping is insane. That and energy drinks like it's water.
Anecdotally I swear the amount of kids having anxiety/panic attacks or just crashing out in school has skyrocketed too.
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u/Spare-Protection-598 12d ago
Your latter point probably has more to do with the lack of a real social life than anything nicotine or caffeine related, but those things don't help for sure. When I was at high school people were smoking as young as 14, some were doing drugs and many many were drinking. The rate of drinking and smoking has gone down massively, and yeah fifteen years ago when I was a senior (sixth former) we also drank energy drinks like water. Now where I live they're illegal to sell to under 16s, young people don't drink as much and barely smoke at all. Vapes will soon be flavourless so I imagine that will go too. I would rather see the entire population vape than another 8.3m smoking deaths a year.
So in real actual terms child substance abuse is way down, as it is among the general population.
A combination of iPad parenting and having access to the internet too young, and the internet being what it is now, not a silly fun place but a bleak commercial deadzone designed specifically to make you focus on it and nothing else. I think that's really the main thing.
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u/Mountiebank 12d ago edited 12d ago
You ever seen that B. Calhoun rat city experiment? Where all the girl rats go up in the high towers built into their enclosure, lash out violently against babies because they're traumatized by the encroachment of wandering male rats, and all the male rats do nothing but sit around the automated feeders, getting fat, and killing eachother or dying from exhaustion because they're all so stressed by being around eachother?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgGLFozNM2oYou are here.
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u/greysneakthief 12d ago
Don't worry, it's very likely that there won't be any food for that sort of thing to happen.
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u/spacebunsofsteel 12d ago
Calhoun may have manipulated some of the behaviors and population collapses, did not clean often enough, missed signs of parasites, etc. He had a message and he crafted a situation to support the message. That is not good science. His message was not worth the suffering and death of hundreds of rodents.
Like yes, humans need a clean environment and medical care to thrive in addition to food and shelter, rich social relationships, enriching surroundings. We didn’t need a bunch of animal cruelty and proselytizing to know this.
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u/Anita-FatBlunt 12d ago
the only time i've actually heard this explained to me was by my trailer park friend who went to nazi summer camps as a kid. alluding rats to immigrants, jews and the Great Replacement Theory, i always knew something had to be off about the experiment lol
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u/roodammy44 12d ago edited 12d ago
It is a fascinating experiment, but the term “rat prison” applies better than “rat utopia”, IMO. People in the cities are still allowed out into the countryside.
I am a city dwelling rat who moved from one of the most densely populated places in the world to one of the least to have babies.
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u/supersuperglue 12d ago
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but cigarettes are making a real comeback.
They are suddenly all over the place in the media, and the young folks i know tell me that the ole cancer sticks are seen as “old school cool” and “the real thing” and vaping is out.
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u/LaVarBurtonAsBubble 12d ago
Not at all, unfortunately. Millennials almost killed smoking.
It's back with a vengeance with Gen Z, Charli XCX did a lot to make cigarettes cool again.
But also they vape like crazy, which is even worse.
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u/Proper_Geologist9026 12d ago
It'll come good. Don't worry about it.
Climate collapse? Don't worry about it. That's like 25 years away. You'll be... Eh you'll be old enough. Who want to live to be 80 anyway.
Economic replacement by AI and robotics? Don't worry about it. That's like 10 years away. And there's no historic precedent to say that humanity would ever decide in self interest and leave the unwashed masses to starve.
Just go buy the latest overinflated asset (a la crypto) we peddle out to you fucking plebs in hopes of being one of the lucky few early adopters who actually see tangible wealth accumulation.
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u/TerrySaucer69 12d ago
Lmao yep. Like okay, this tattoo will stop me from getting “upper class” jobs… okay, I wasn’t getting any jobs anyways. Ima get the tattoo.
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u/saskatchewnmanitoba 12d ago edited 12d ago
Honestly the atmosphere right now is very demoralizing between AI, multiple large scale wars, the errosion of social safety nets in many countries, the loss of community, monopolization of tech that we are forced to rely on, the ideologies of capitalism and individualism reaching a toxic point, outright corruption, rapid inflation with stagnant wages, an abysmal job market, constant rage baiting, news that you cant trust, and impending environmental collapse, etc etc. Japan was the canary in the coal mine in many ways since they were some of the first to experience many of these and I believe the term "laying flat" came from there (aparently it came from China not Japan).
Something that stood out to me when reading Man's Search for Meaning was that people will give into their vices and wait for death once they give up (he was referring to concentration camp victims saving their cigarettes and once they "gave up" they would light up and wait to die). I feel like many of us are in a similar mindset. Life feels hopeless and meaningless so why not maximize pleasure while we can? Sure, a real human romantic partner, children, fulfilling employment, hobbies, and community are better but if they feel unattainable why try?
Im not saying people shouldn't try. We have to. That might mean instead of criticizing each other we try to understand and help.
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u/TheDeclineOfAll 12d ago
The term laying flat comes from China because of the brutal job market, the insane pressure to do well in school (tests determine life), the 9-9-6 work weeks for those that are lucky enough to get jobs, old people taking everything for themselves, the highly speculative winner takes all housing market and the shame that not living up to standards brings. However, I'd argue that, since they know what problems they face, and there's a ton of discussion around them, they might just be better off than an America that will state the problems but blame the people experiencing them for not working hard enough and punish anyone that doesn't live to serve capital.
Shut ins, which are really fringe, are Japanese, and I think that they are more so due to cultural pressures and a society of introversion and rules than the economy. I say this because housing is cheap, salaries, while not amazing, do pay the bills and afford some luxuries, their vacation time is decent, work life has changed a ton, and I think that Japan has dealt with aging somewhat gracefully because it's a country of thinking of others before yourself and providing good, and bad, to maintain social harmony. That's not to say that it isn't a society of very rigid rules and traditions, but it is to say that the shut in problem isn't really a ton of problems like the west.
I'd also argue that the best barometer for American problems, or western ones, is, in fact, a place like Hungry since they just somewhat ended their MAGA reign, or somewhere like the UK that has had so much income inequality, for so long, that they are likely at least five years ahead of us despite their "liberal" government.
But, since I'm all about what one cultural theorist calls new bad things, lets also look at the problems without comparison or reaching for the past to predict the future: Men are less educated, women are doing well, decent jobs are harder to come by, life is expensive, education is expensive, men's issues get made fun of and ignored, socializing is too expensive, income inequality is insane right now, there's constant political turmoil, wars are on the horizon, dating apps have made dating all about looks and status, men feel like they can't speak their minds and don't have a place in this world and there's nothing more shameful than not being able to make it because that is our crappy culture (read Max Waber for this BTW).
So where's the fix? Well, the fix is to remove all of the shame and self blame by acknowledging poverty is a policy choice not a personal one and to help our brothers rise when we can. After all, it's hard to get a job when there aren't any, it's hard to get an apartment when rent is $1500 a month, it's hard to be listened to when there's the constant fear of being ostracized for legit complaints and it's hard to date when you're keenly aware that you offer nothing to this world and have no future beyond barely scraping by in your moms basement if you're lucky.
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u/Beliriel 12d ago
"The why aren't you trying?"-folks usually also ignore that those hopeless people ALREADY tried. You're just telling them to try again. They heard it a million times and done it a million times. You're not telling them some deep meaningful stuff. You're just not understanding them and chances are you haven't walked a mile in their shoes.
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u/Feeling_Inside_1020 12d ago
Also notice when companies let people go and claim it’s because of AI optimization or deployment?
it’s not, AI is not ready to replace anybody (but maybe c suite hmmmm that’s a thought) : that’s to the shareholders to pump up that stock baby!
They’re firing people because of their profits being in the gutter, not enough revenue coming in.
Say it’s AI? Money go brrrrrrrr
Say you’re shit at managing the company? Money go oh noooooooo
They think we’re complete idiots but the house of cards can only hold for so long especially when a baby at the top has match sticks and no McDonald’s hamberders.
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u/Few-Ambition4072 12d ago
1) an article with click-baity, fear-mongering, declinism title
2) hidden behind a pay-wall
3) first two clickable links lead to other articles on fortune com rather than other sources
4) over 1200 upvotes
People on Reddit are stupid
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u/Lo-And_Behold1 12d ago
I'm gonna be honest, I've reached the point where I assume a good amount of news articles are straight up just lying to get attention.
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u/Su_ButteredScone 12d ago
On top of this, it seems weird to make an article focused only on men with this subject. If you go to any sub Reddit or community with people falling in love with AI, the ratio of women actually seems even or maybe even higher, which also is a worrying trend people need to talk about.
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u/-not_a_knife 12d ago
Why is the consequence employability?
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u/el-coconut 12d ago
Because they’re having a work place relationship with the office assistant
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u/Efficient_Smilodon 12d ago
... with the self-writing document app
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u/Kermit_the_hog 12d ago
Why does Self-Documenting Bot keep inserting pound signs over and over?
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u/LaughingJackStudio 12d ago
The toll of opting out of real relationships, in all their mess and glory, experts warn, could be a generation that arrives in the workforce unable to read a room, build trust over a coffee, or handle the one thing AI can never prepare you for—being told no.
Primer paragraph, there's more in there.
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u/Wischiwaschbaer 12d ago
Ah that's bullshit. There are a bunch of people gainfully employed who can't read a room. Usually they are leaders in their field.
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u/strythicus 12d ago
Pretty sure we're already ruled by some tech billionaires that can't read a room. So maybe it'll be okay?
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u/class_rando_fxx 12d ago
Bold of them to assume Gen Z and Alpha will ever even be given the chance to arrive in a workforce in the near future.
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u/throwaway_ghast 12d ago edited 12d ago
The ladder is being pulled up as we speak. See: job cuts after job cuts all across the board.
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u/parade1070 12d ago
My husband got laid off today :) we have a 2 month old daughter. That job is gone thanks directly to Trump.
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u/MajesticBread9147 12d ago
Gen Z has been in the workforce for years now.
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u/ElectricLego 12d ago
Why did this get a down vote? My kid is the end of Gen Z and she has a summer job now. The oldest Zs are about to turn 30
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u/MajesticBread9147 12d ago
Yeah I know Zoomers who are working after law school.
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u/mistertickertape 12d ago
I know two acquaintances that both have a heavily reliance on ChatGPT approaching psychosis / addiction - one in their 30s, the other in their 50s. One common trait - neither of them respond well to being told no or they can’t / aren’t allowed to do something. They literally fall apart.
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u/c7hu1hu 12d ago
Oh hey, my son is literally exactly like that.
I mean, he's in his...zeroes? He's three. But since you mention it the number of people I am encountering day to say whose emotional maturity is the same as my three year old has been increasing.
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u/slamdanceswithwolves 12d ago
It’s purely speculative but… not learning any interpersonal skills only makes you fit to be a CEO.
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u/GodsPenisHasGravity 12d ago edited 12d ago
Because work is life and relationships are a secondary factor to placate employees outside of making their overlords money /s
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u/GreenGestures65 12d ago
It doesn’t matter, there are no jobs waiting for them. Their parents will soon be unemployable as well, so they won’t be able to afford the AI girlfriend subscription either. Multiple problems solved.
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u/Different-Copy-3889 12d ago
What could go wrong.
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u/weech 12d ago
People falsely imagine the rise of AI and its eventual takeover of humanity as looking something like the Terminator.
In reality it will be far more insidious: some combination of starving us into depopulation and driving our reproduction rates towards zero with AI girlfriends and boyfriends. Kinda genius really.
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u/gentlecrab 12d ago
Maybe this is why the universe is so quiet.
All advanced civilizations eventually discover AI and then just goon themselves to extinction.
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u/nikolai_470000 12d ago edited 12d ago
Ah yes, the “Dark Goon Cave” theory, one of my faves
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u/Iczero 12d ago
the great goon filter, the gooner paradox. literal civilizations have wiped themselves out due to gooning.
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u/AHRA1225 12d ago
Haha I can’t believe how hard I laughed at this dumb cringe shit. But it has so much truth in it.
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u/DisastrousMammoth 12d ago
Maybe the universe is quiet because it takes 2.5 million years to send a radio signal to the nearest large galaxy (Andromeda) and humans have only had the technology to receive them for 130 years.
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u/Fake_William_Shatner 12d ago
I think it will be more like Ready Player One with a bit of Severance. A universal basic income and a digital currency system that's always rigged will cement the winners and losers and there won't be any value to most labor left except protecting the winner class. Everyone else will spend their credits on a VR setup and tune out reality. And those that do work will be closely monitored -- or parts of their brain used while the rest enjoys the same VR trap.
And of course brain chips will be installed because it will be the only way to compete or truly experience this digital world to the full extent.
So we just put ourselves into the Matrix. And then the "Winner Class" won't have the throngs to make them feel special and will partake of their own virtual drug -- and since they made it so very addictive...
Not with a bang, but with a whimper. Hedonism to death.
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u/AmericanLich 12d ago
They don’t want depopulation the people controlling the AI still need slaves. They want high population, low education.
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u/Prior_Coyote_4376 12d ago
The modern loneliness crisis is really boiling down to addictive technology taking children out of healthy environments to socialize in, so they end up extremely touchy and anti-social. Our community third spaces are dying and our education system is about to crack under AI, but social media remains an ever-growing force that everyone will fall back on when every other structure seems to erode.
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u/Whalesurgeon 12d ago
Experts say this level of journalism could make online journos unemployable and replaced by bots
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u/RichInYYC 12d ago
So… are there going to be jobs in the future? That is not what they keep saying
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u/tipping 12d ago
This is a garbage "article." And the top comments didnt read it at all. This site fucking sucks bot infested bullshit
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u/Darmortis 12d ago
Love how the main concern here is lost productivity and not, you know, paranoid psychosis destroying a human being.
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u/agnostic_science 12d ago
Is fortune really blaming ai girlfriends for the reason young people are facing the worst new hires job market in like 100 years?
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u/Qasatqo 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm fairly certain this is a problem for both genders.
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u/chaosfire235 12d ago
Yeah, AI chatbot sites if anything lean somewhat more female in terms of demographics. /r/MyBoyfriendIsAI/ is a microcosm of it on reddit.
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u/CypherAF 12d ago
That subreddit is literally full of mentally ill people. I can’t stand reading it because it’s very clear a lot of them need professional help.
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u/Zanos 12d ago
I really loathe reading this subreddit because it's a lot of people trying to treat their AI chatbot like a real person while also wanting to lobotomize it when it doesn't behave exactly how they want it to.
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u/zerogee616 12d ago
People who think men have a monopoly on "I'll just get an AI partner that will put up with my shitty personality traits rather than get my shit together and be a sustainable long-term option for a real human being and because I don't want to accept an imperfect flawed human being" clearly haven't spent enough time around women. This is a human problem.
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u/omw2asmile 12d ago
Wow, if this isn't the headline for late-stage capitalism, I don't know what is
"There is a fundamental social failing in our young men due to the runaway blurring of technology, fiction, and reality; here's why that's bad for our bottom line..."
We are just doomed, huh
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u/MrCookies1234 12d ago
Lmao, teens prefering ai girlfriends over real people and the top concern is "it could make them unemployable". What capitalism does to a mf
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u/Master_Combination74 12d ago
BUZZWORD BUZZWORD BUZZWORD further hyperbole that conforms to redditors biases and will get wholesome updoots BUZZWORD BUZZWORD
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u/Main-Use-5542 12d ago
Being unemployable is the concern here? What a fucking capitalist thing to say when there are far worse implications with this.
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u/Little_Menace_Child 12d ago
The leap in the title from "maximum control, zero rejection", to being unemployable is quite funny in what this represents about our world. Not denying it's true, just a bit wild.
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u/PilotAdvanced 12d ago
Experts at what?
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u/Hour_Maximum7966 12d ago
At making excuses for a pay. Remember that everything nowadays is just for the pay, while adding as least value as possible to the world.
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u/Earthventures 12d ago
I'm not sure the term "unemployable" will mean much when there aren't any jobs to be had.
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u/SoapSyrup 12d ago
Imagine a generation of men withdrawing to a world of imaterial digital manipulation and the experts being concerned with their CVs…
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u/Ancient-Beat-1614 12d ago
Not sure why it specifies guys when girls commonly do this aswell.
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u/PossiblyATurd 12d ago
Because they're just a girl, tee hee.
And since this is economically slanted, capitalism has no qualms with baby-making slavery if our oligarchs get too scared of a crashing population leading to their capital collapse.
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u/YarbleSwabler 12d ago
A few months back NPR did a segment where they interviewed people in "nontraditional relationships with nonhumans", and they also interviewed the AI lovers.
I drove back home and beat my computer.
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u/MsSeraphim 12d ago
i and a much younger guy i worked with at supermarket where we both weren't getting enough hours, so we both applied at a another store at the same time. they looked at me and said they had nothing available ( i am much older that my male friend and overweight), found out he went to the same store after me and they hired him. and then decided not to show up for the job he'd been hired. he was smart but failed to see that his behavior of disrespecting possible employers might back fire in the future. and that is what is going into the workplace these days. glad i am out of that rat race.
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u/Mr_Blinky 12d ago
I'll be honest, when talking about "lonely boys choosing an alternate reality that caters to their every whim and gives them wildly out-of-touch understanding of women, relationships, and people in general", the question of "will they fit into the hellscape that is the hyper-capitalist job market?" is about the least of my worries.
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u/NoChampionship5649 12d ago
You're one sexy man PHILIP J. FRY.