The current tell is "weird eye-lines and physics" no one looks anyone in the eyes and everything is very "dream where youre trying to run but gravity turned off for some reason"

Well, it makes sense, that if sex sells (and also rallies, look at 30s' and 40s' propaganda), then believable digital succubi are the most expected application of computers once that becomes possible.

It's actually funny how, looking at stuff retrospectively, the main change of 60s was less idealized sexuality in art and propaganda and artifacts like that, but more in participatory culture.

Things like pr0n in the Internet are sometimes described as continuation of that, I think they are more of a reversal. Pr0n helps to make things taboo.

Not for everyone, of course, but for people with social disabilities. Of the very kind that join radical groups, listen to romanticist (in the XIX century meaning of the word) music, and/or, like me, just kick rocks till being 30 for everything social.

It's the difference between participatory and herd culture in general. Say, 00s' Web, where people would have simple webpages, against today's Web, where technical ability to do something doesn't matter because people almost fear those doing anything outside of big platforms with company employees as invisible herders. It's weird, freaky, strange. As if you were doing something illegal.

Those who participate can't be led by promise of satisfying this or that desire. With the Web example, look at Telegram ; it's not secure despite its creators almost claiming that, but it does satisfy the desire for having conversation spaces similar to Web forums, with easy discovery ; on most big platforms, that's made intentionally inconvenient to make people reliant upon recommendations, and recommendations are formed to satisfy advertising conversion goals.

Now, that's a desire rather high in Maslow pyramid. Sex is far more basic and important for control.

I've also recently seen a few Facebook posts by one good newspaper's main editor, with his excitement about Claude, mostly on using it to learn and think about anthropological stuff. So it's an intellectual succubus as well. Pretty smart people are vulnerable in the same general way as those lonely people, just with a different profile.

They're desperate and not capable of introspecive rational thought. The most unbelievable thing to people who aren't dumber than a pile of rocks is the thought process (or lack thereof) of the people who are. I recommend trying not to rationalize it yourself for their behalf, you'll end up with psychic damage

Yes they actually think that.

Perry sure they’ve mentally resigned themselves to living life in their mental land of make believe

What, you think

I'm gonna stop you right there. No, they don't.