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AI has been foisted upon us, for sure, but one reason it lands with so many is that LLMs *feel like* a solution for loneliness/estrangement/isolation: People who crave feedback and iteration but lack the courage or social capital to get it. Showing a first draft to someone is exposure. /1

In this economy, everything is high-stakes. No one can afford to make a mistake--surveys of college students who use AI say they resort to it bc grades are too important not to. Others have suggested that no-grade, holistic evaluations could help but I wonder: That fear of exposure might linger. /2

No different for adults. You can joke about "male loneliness epidemic" but the reality is that it's just an epidemic, period. Almost a third of Americans say they are "always" or "frequently" lonely. 40% say "no one the past few weeks took more than just a few minutes to ask how they are doing." /3

I'm blending "fear of exposure" and "loneliness" here; they're inextricable. A sense of comfort around people is the solution to both: the idea that you can be yourself without fear of rejection or failure. And LLMs simulate *exactly* that. There is not such a thing as "bothering" an LLM. /4

An LLM will look at a first draft and tell you it's good. An LLM will hear you out about a crazy theory or a minor inconvenience. An LLM will never, ever judge you, not even for the most outlandish ideas...which is a bug as much as a feature, but to the individual user, that's just validation. /5