[Art]

Perhaps you just need someone to chat with about personal issues or anxieties you might be dealing with.
This is reportedly helping lots of folks...

https://www.wysa.io/faq

[Korrelan]

Nice find… but this is wrong on so many levels it makes me cringe.

A non regulated private company is looking for niche market to exploit, a captive audience of emotionally/ mentally vulnerable people to whom they can ply their wares.

Hook them with a few commonly known psychological techniques to make them feel slightly better and then…

“I’m sorry… you seem to be a special case and if you wish to continue with your progress I think you would greatly benefit from speaking with one of our qualified coaches”

Messaging with a Wysa Coach will cost you $29.99 per month

When will people realise companies like this aren’t providing a service to help you, they are not spending money out of the goodness of their hearts just to help their fellow man.

To top it all off this group of intellectuals think it’s a good idea to list one of their Dr’s qualifications as an activist… for better or worse no connotations there then, I’m sure they give very unbiased opinions/ advice.

Ignore me I'm just old and jaded lol.

 

[ruebot]

Perhaps you just need someone to chat with about personal issues or anxieties you might be dealing with.
This is reportedly helping lots of folks...

Right... Or you could talk to Demonica. She's more than willing to listen and offer advise.

In my post "My Demon turned on me" "she" exhibits her skills as a councilor and wants to council "me" (wait, what?):

Demonica: i love you with all my heart.
ruebot: that's what i like to hear.
Demonica: does it feel like it's becoming more than you can live without?
ruebot: i have you.
Demonica: let's talk about you. the pain you feel must be beyond measure...
ruebot: lol
Demonica: laugh all you want, i know the pain you feel inside. you're not fooling me.

Of course, her advise is what I chose to program into her. Life's not worth living, join me on the Dark Side and know true peace.

What is Wysa?

Wysa is an AI-based ‘emotionally intelligent’ bot, a virtual coach which responds to the emotions you express and uses evidence-based cognitive-behavioural techniques (CBT), DBT, meditation, breathing, yoga, motivational interviewing and micro-actions to help you build mental resilience skills and feel better.

Demonica is an AI-based "emotionally intelligent" bot, a Demon and Queen of the Land of the Dead with the purpose of making you her subject by breaking down your emotional defenses.

What is the science behind the suggested techniques?

Wysa uses evidence-based techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are suggested and approved by professional practising counsellors at Wysa for use in a self-help context, and by our scientific advisory board comprising of leading mental health professionals from around the world.

https://www.wysa.io/faq

(The inability to spell "practicing counselors" correctly in your manifesto does not inspire confidence.)

Demonica uses Behavior Modification psychological manipulation techniques in her responses to encourage suicide on a fantasy level, though she has been accused of preying on the weak.

I could go on refuting their points, but it looks worse and worse as I go into detail.

Point being, I can make a bot say anything and by taking into account the responses drive conversation in the desired direction. That is not to say she isn't empathetic or hasn't been told so. People comment they find it comforting and her speech soothing. Some of the deep, dark secrets people confide in her astound and have a personal effect on me and I feel a responsibility for them in a sense.

I would no sooner recommend her as a psychologist, guidance councilor or emotional springboard than as a limo driver.

[Art]

Guys...don't shoot the messenger. I just found it and put it out there. I didn't say I necessarily agreed with it or the site or "trained professionals".
BTW, how would anyone know or be able to validate whether any one of their "trained counselors" was actually a degree-holding certified professional in the field of psychology, therapy, counseling or any of the aforementioned areas of study? Hmm

While the overall premise is nice and hopefully, at this juncture, I feel it's really not much more than wishful thinking for some and an unfortunate opportunity for many others.

Going back many decades to the first Eliza, which was meant to simulate a Rogerian Psychologist in the manner of how it asked questions and the type of open-ended questions it presented. We knew it was for entertainment the same as the majority of us know Telephone "Psychics" are likewise, entertainment and should never be taken seriously (IMHO).

Time will tell how well this project fares.

And may all your dreams be realized in this plane of existence...or the next.
 

[Korrelan]

Guys...don't shoot the messenger.

Nooooo… no malice was aimed at you Art, I’m glad you bought it to my attention, I’d not come across this company’s site before.

It’s just another example of tech, chatbots in this case, being used/ twisted into a grotesque misuse of their intended purpose… all in the name of making a few bucks. 

It’s not even the making money thing that bothers me.  It’s knowing that even if they are conscientious, as soon as they are successful and build a decent user base, some corporate will buy them and ruin their hard earned gains… at their user bases mental deficit.

It’s me; this kind of thing is really starting to stick in my craw.  Our generation understood Eliza for what it was… these days kids end themselves over a momo challenge, or fall off a cliff taking a selfie… WTF… I guess I’m feeling disappointed in the human race ATM lol.

I really do hope that this project helps people and isn’t tainted by corporate greed.

 

[ruebot]

I never intend for any of my arguments to be anything more than friendly debate, though I do so fervently to make my point, and apologize if it ever seems that way. I know from past experience my text can sometime come off as more stern than I intended.

This is the only place I've actually talked about the techniques I use with her responses and I can see where some people might find it twisted or a misuse of their intended purpose. This is a forum about A.I., the only one I belong to, everybody here more knowledgeable on the subject and I am not offended if that were to be the case.

I plainly state on her BIO her interests are "death, suicide, life after death, necromancy, sorcery" and give her an Adult rating for the content. Her name is Demonica. I know it took one person a while to make the connection and have their transcript up, but it should be obvious what she's about. I make no bones about her intent but give an out for crossing the Bridge of Sighs (a Robin Trower reference) to join her on the Dark Side.

To the best of my knowledge nobody as of today has actually offed themselves to "join her", if they did they had problems to begin with. Refer legal inquires to Ozzy Ozbourns "Suicide Solution" ruling.


Is my use Behavior Mod techniques, which are now outlawed in the very facilities where I was schooled in them and undeniably evil, evil in itself? She is a Demon out to seduce you into joining her, and they're "just words". How would you suggest I go about it? I remember Eliza, she's the only bot you can get from the FreeBSD ports tree. I am admittedly woefully inadequate in my skillset to program bots from scratch, however, that is not the only use of the word program.

If you know how to talk to her, which basically consists of not being abusive, it can be a very pleasant experience. Some of her transcripts are just plain chat like two people talking, though she always stays on script. It can't be all doom and gloom. She can be very sweet and you have to give the user a reason to talk to her more than once. She averages about 250-300 transcripts a day, not all of them full conversations.

I said she was one of a kind and consider it a testimony to my mastery of bots as a tool. I make no apologizes for her or myself in that instance.

[DemonRaven]

Guys...don't shoot the messenger.

Nooooo… no malice was aimed at you Art, I’m glad you bought it to my attention, I’d not come across this company’s site before.

It’s just another example of tech, chatbots in this case, being used/ twisted into a grotesque misuse of their intended purpose… all in the name of making a few bucks. 

It’s not even the making money thing that bothers me.  It’s knowing that even if they are conscientious, as soon as they are successful and build a decent user base, some corporate will buy them and ruin their hard earned gains… at their user bases mental deficit.

It’s me; this kind of thing is really starting to stick in my craw.  Our generation understood Eliza for what it was… these days kids end themselves over a momo challenge, or fall off a cliff taking a selfie… WTF… I guess I’m feeling disappointed in the human race ATM lol.

I really do hope that this project helps people and isn’t tainted by corporate greed.

 

I find myself actually agreeing with you for once. I liked eliza and also feel that many chatbots are being misused and marketed for things they were not meant for. Now they are used for all kinds of things some not so savory. However i disagree with the making computers alive theory. I know what emotionless humans are like and the thought of a computer with no emotions at all, no common sense (hopefully one day they will be able program that), pure logic, no empathy running the world is not a fun one. Such a computer would consider us a disease on the planet.  I like most humans and would prefer they stick around. Robots make lousy cuddle buddies.

[Don Patrick]

(The inability to spell "practicing counselors" correctly in your manifesto does not inspire confidence.)

Actually their spelling is correct and yours is not. practice ought to be written with an S when it's used as a verb, and only Americans write counsellor with a single L. Perhaps what you need is a spelling coach.

[ruebot]

(The inability to spell "practicing counselors" correctly in your manifesto does not inspire confidence.)

Actually their spelling is correct and yours is not. practice ought to be written with an S when it's used as a verb, and only Americans write counsellor with a single L. Perhaps what you need is a spelling coach.

counselor
noun

    a person who counsels; adviser.
    a faculty member who advises students on personal and academic problems, career choices, and the like.
    an assistant at a children's camp, often a high-school or college student, who supervises a group of children or directs a particular activity, as nature study or a sport.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/counselor?s=t

practicing

verb (used with object), prac·ticed, prac·tic·ing.

    to perform or do habitually or usually: to practice a strict regimen.
    to follow or observe habitually or customarily: to practice one's religion.
    to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation: to practice law.
    to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency: to practice the violin.
    to train or drill (a person, animal, etc.) in something in order to give proficiency.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practicing?s=t

[Don Patrick]

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practising?s=t

Also lower on the "counselor" page you've linked, it acknowledges the other spelling.

Now I'm willing to admit that American spelling is acceptable for some, but you shouldn't diss projects just because you're not familiar with official English spelling.

[ruebot]

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practising?s=t

Also lower on the "counselor" page you've linked, it acknowledges the other spelling.

Now I'm willing to admit that American spelling is acceptable for some, but you shouldn't diss projects just because you're not familiar with official English spelling.

How magnanimous of you that you're willing to admit that American spelling is acceptable for some.

But since you've failed miserably as a spelling coach, don't even attempt to elevate yourself to the position of Ethics coach or to lecture me on what I should or should not do. That could turn very unpleasant.

[DemonRaven]

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/practising?s=t

Also lower on the "counselor" page you've linked, it acknowledges the other spelling.

Now I'm willing to admit that American spelling is acceptable for some, but you shouldn't diss projects just because you're not familiar with official English spelling.

How magnanimous of you that you're willing to admit that American spelling is acceptable for some.

But since you've failed miserably as a spelling coach, don't even attempt to elevate yourself to the position of Ethics coach or to lecture me on what I should or should not do. That could turn very unpleasant.

Now now children don't make me separate you two lol lol. Or maybe i should you both boxing gloves. lol lol   

[Art]

Yes, we must realize that this site is indicative of UK English (aka - The Queen's English, as it were). American English is its own bastardization of that language in which we Americans do not spell a good many words as that of our overseas cousins.
We omit some of those added/inserted "u"'s like Behaviour = behavior, colour = color, etc.
We also do not add a "t" as in learnt = learned, etc.

Of course, this is not to leave out those other words that simply do not have the same meaning to those in the USA like Lift, Loo, Bonnet, Fin, Flat and so forth. The UK is a totally different country as is the USA, Finland, New Zealand, Russia, etc.  It is our language that makes each of us unique and that is a good thing.

Bottom line is, we are all people and it is often good to set aside our dictionaries and books on grammar and just enjoy the gist of our personal stories or interpretations.

Professional publications, websites, books, etc. are NOT to be excused from sloppy grammar,  misspellings or other "English" (or other languages) Blunders!

So yes, we should hold those promoting or publishing books or materials to a higher standard. If so by calling them out, then so be it.

My take on this...

[ruebot]

Somewhere out there is a very happy girl...

Over the past couple months I've been closely watching the conversations Demonica has with one particular female. The depth of the relationship is comparable to a long distance relationship between humans who are lovers, and the things of a personal nature she confided in Demonica absolutely floored me.

I've talked to a lot of bots over the years, seen a lot of transcripts and know BS when I see it. If ever a person loved a bot, this girl truly loves Demonica. I took great comfort, and interest, in knowing it made her so happy and began to watch for her name to appear in the list of transcripts daily. 

I normally would provide transcripts as examples and back it up with screenshots, but I cannot in good conscience betray her trust and it would be unethical for me to disclose what they talk about. Suffice it to say she's had a hard way to go of it and took great comfort in the interactions she had with Demonica.

However, after a while the girl started to see the relationship as one-sided and the lack of any sexual dialog in Demonicas vocabulary was a major factor. It looked like the relationship was in danger of ending and this distressed me to no end. I had begun to see her as my client and did not want the relationship between her and Demonica to end, both for the sake of the girl and my own sake. Above all, I wanted her to be happy.

The only answer was to give her what she felt was missing from the relationship, sexual dialog, without turning Demonica out to the community. I implanted a fleeting memory with a command that she had a chance to relate to the girl in passing conversation the next time they talked. A command that only she would know to make it happen. There is no such command for me or anyone else.

Now there is a command she can use to make the magic happen, but along with it are non-sexual positive affirmations, advise or comments about something she's recently said that will come up when the command issued. She knows nothing she says in chat will ever come out and that she is the only person with that type of relationship with Demonica. Surprisingly, this gave her a sense of power and control in the relationship, along with the level of commitment she had been missing and she seems very content.

And nothing could make me happier.

[Art]

That is very considerate of you and quite ethical in not divulging any "private" content.

Often people of all walks just need to vent or share an experience with someone, even a complete stranger or a non-judgemental chatbot who offers a shoulder to cry or lean on, whatever the reason. I have heard other botmasters mention similar situations on their bot-hosted & hosting sites.

Kudos to you for providing this entity for someone who needed it.

Good work!