Feb. 8, 2025

AI Girlfriends and Valentine’s Day

AI Girlfriends and Valentine’s Day

Most men would marry their AI girlfriends

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Most men would marry their AI girlfriends

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Can you feel it?

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Do you feel it right now? Do you feel it?

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Do you feel those butterflies in your stomach? Are your

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palms getting a little sweaty? Are you getting nervous but excited?

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Are you filled with feelings of romance, of love, of infatuation,

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of being swept head over hills? Have you been swept

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off your feet? Are you getting that feeling of romance

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and love and passion? Are you or you're like, no,

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not really, It's just it's I'm not feeling any of that. Well,

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are you going to be feeling that next Friday? I mean,

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I know this Friday you may not be feeling it,

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But what about next Friday, February the fourteenth? Are you

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going to feel it then? Are you gonna be excited?

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Is it gonna be a candlelit dinner that night? Are

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you going out of town for the weekend, a romantic weekend,

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a romantic getaway. You're gonna You're gonna send the kids

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to the to the grandparents or to somewhere else, and

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you and your your special your spouse, that special someone

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in your life. You're gonna You're gonna go somewhere and

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rekindle the romance and the passion. Is that? Do you

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feel that? Or you don't feel anything? Maybe you're like,

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I don't even want to talk about it. I hate

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the whole thing and it's gonna be horrible, it's gonna

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be depressing. How do you feel about it? Well, what

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if maybe you could capture some of those feelings, Maybe

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you could capture that sense of companionship, an emotional connection,

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some sense of mental and emotional intimacy, maybe some kind

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of intimacy, but with something other than maybe a human being.

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Would you be interested? I mean, maybe everything else about

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this time of year is just going to be depressing

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for you. Maybe there's a solution. What am I talking about? Well,

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we're going to talk about it all right after I

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say good evening. Everyone welcome. It is Friday, February the seventh.

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It's not February the fourteenth, so we're way ahead of schedule. Here,

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February the seventh, twenty twenty five. It is currently ten

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thirty four pm Central time, and I'm coming to you

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live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now,

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obviously I was making a reference to Valentine's Day, which

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is next Friday. Right, are you excited about it? How

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do you feel about Valentine's Day? If you look over

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your life, have you have you loved it? Have you

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hated it? Have you felt pressure? What has been your

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experience with it? Now, for a lot of people, now

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Valentine's Day is really just I'm just using it because

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it's on the calendar, it's you know, it's next Friday.

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I'm just using it to really talk about a deeper issue,

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an issue of intimacy, an issue of companionship, an issue

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of a deep friendship, an issue of passion, of romance.

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That's a deeper issue. And I think we can all

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acknowledge that as human beings, we have a natural inclination,

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we have a natural desire and natural I think we

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can go so far to say a need for intimacy,

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for companionship, for romance, for I mean, can we say it?

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I mean, I hope, I mean, if you, if you

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have any children around, you can hit pause right now.

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But I think it's fair to say that as human beings,

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we have a need a desire for physical satisfaction now,

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I know when it comes to a Christian worldview, we

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have a tendency to say all I need is God,

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just me and God. I'm just supposed to love God

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above everything else. We say that, we talk a big game, right,

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I die to self, I die to the world. It's

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just me and God. We say that. But it's interesting

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that the people say that tend't have a spouse. They

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have kids, right, they have a relationship. Yeah. Look, it's

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one thing to say that when you're like, you know,

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on Sunday morning, you're like, you know, yes, I sacrifice myself,

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I take up my cross, I die to self, I

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deny self, and I follow Christ and I die to

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the things of this world and I die to the flesh.

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And it's about Christ. And then you get in the

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car old hands with your spouse on the way home,

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maybe you go out to eat, and then Sunday night

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you get in bed together. Nowell, I mean, whoa you

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talked to a big game. But isn't it amazing you have

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the other part there right now? Have all of that disappear.

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No one to hold your hand, no one to get

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in bed with, no romance, no companionship. You spend most

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of your life alone? Now what do you feel then? Now,

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maybe Valentine's Day brings up that emotion and it kind

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of just screams at you. You don't have anything, you

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don't have anyone. You're not gonna be anyone special Valentine's Day,

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They're not gonna You're not gonna be theirs, they are

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not gonna be yours, right right? I mean, maybe maybe

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this is not the way we're supposed to talk about

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this subject, but I think we need to discuss it,

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and we need to discuss it because it's twenty twenty

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five and the rules of the game have dramatically changed

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because someone else has entered the scene. Think of a

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romantic a rom com Think of a romantic comedy. Right,

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and there's the guy and he's alone, he doesn't have anyone.

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Now does he bump into the beautiful woman in the bookstore?

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Does he bump into her in the coffee shop? Where

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do Hallmark movies do all of it? I don't remember.

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I don't watch Hallmark movies, but I've seen enough, or

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at least the making fun of them. But where does

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he bump into her? At? Right? And he finally finds

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the love of his life. Their eyes meet and it's

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instant connection and their sparks and they're like, I have

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found the love of my life. I have found my princess.

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I have found whatever he wants to refer to your eyes. Oh,

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and it's so amazing and it's beautiful. Oh it's great. Oh.

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They go through a rough patch and everything, and it

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seems to fall apart. But at the end he runs

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into the airport. Don't go. I can't live my life

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without you. You complete me. Okay, we get the idea, right,

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But in twenty twenty five, maybe he doesn't need to

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bump in to the beautiful woman. Maybe he just needs

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to talk to his artificial intelligence companion. Maybe all he

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needs is an AI girlfriend. Or I can't speak for women.

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All the statistics I have speak about men, so I

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cannot speak about I'm not a woman, so I can't

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necessarily speak of their experiences. So women, you'll have to

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discuss how this makes you feel. I can't speak for you,

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but for I'm speaking of this from a men's perspective,

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because all the statistics I have here speak about men.

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But here is the headline. It was published January the

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thirty first, twenty twenty five at five point fifty three PM.

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Here is the headline. Are you ready for this? Most

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men would marry their AI girlfriends if it were legal.

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Most men would marry their AI girlfriends if it were legal. Now,

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the first line of the story. I can't really read

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it the way it's printed because it would probably be

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considered too you know, explicit and not and not correct

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for a theological podcast. Now, I know what you're thinking,

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how does this relate to theology? Stay with me, okay,

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stay with me, all right. A lot of people are like,

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I don't know what this is talking about, and I

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just you got to listen to the end, all right.

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So I'm I'm gonna kind of paraphrase this. You can't

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find physical intimacy, you can't find physical companionship. Don't worry.

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You can just get an AI girlfriend. Most men plan

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on doing so. Anyway. That's the first line. It says.

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I mean it well, it says something a little bit

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more explicit, a little bit more you know, maybe crass

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that some people wouldn't like it. So I'll say, you

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can't find physical intimacy, you can't find physical satisfaction. You

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feel alone, you feel abandoned. You feel isolated, you feel

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like you have no companion, Well, don't worry, just get

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an AI girlfriend, and most men plan on doing so anyway. No,

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but seriously, Eva, the evaai. It is a platform, the Evaai.

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That's a mouthful, Evaai Eva Ai a platform which allows

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you to create and connect with your own AI. Partner

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recently did a survey and they found that eight and

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ten would consider marrying an AI girlfriend if it were legal.

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Eight and ten. WHOA, that's that's pretty That's good. Now

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it was a small sample, all right, so this doesn't

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I can't necessarily prove anything. But we've been talking. We've

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been talking all year about artificial intelligence, right, I've been

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talking about how AI will impact the church. This is

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AI maybe impacting well, the culture, but if it impacts

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the culture, it will ultimately impact the church. The article

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goes on to say, can't or we can all agree?

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This is alarming, right, it's dystopian even, I mean, do

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you find it alarming that most men surveyed eight out

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of ten. We're like, yeah, if I could, I would

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marry my AI girlfriend. Forget a person, I'll take my

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AI girlfriend. Now again, this is speaking to men. I

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don't know how women would respond. Women may go, this

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is the craziest thing I've ever heard. This is ridiculous.

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I need a person, and the men are like, I

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I'll take an AI girlfriend. Now. I don't know how

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this impacts the culture twenty years from now, right, what

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does twenty years from now look like? We got the

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next generation who may grow up and go girlfriend, Yeah,

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her name is whatever, and it's well, it's my AI companion.

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They come home, I'm gonna take you home to meet

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my parents. And the parents are like, oh, so where

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is she? And they pull up their iPad say hi

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to my AI girlfriend. Okay, maybe that's a little over

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the top, but I mean, I don't know. I mean,

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there's there's things are changing now. Of course, there's always

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the chance there'll be a major backlash against all of this.

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They go on to say majority of men say they'd

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marry an AI girlfriend, with some wanting to replicate their exes. Oh,

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now this adds a new lair to this. Some want

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to use AI to replicate their ex girlfriend, the one

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who got away, their first love, the one they have

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maybe fond memories of Valentine's Day. They celebrated three four

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and it was beautiful and it was passionate, but it

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all fell apart and it came crashing down like a

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bad rot you know movie. But now they can go

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back and using AI they can replicate their X. That's that. Okay,

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We've got a lot to figure this out, right, if

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you see why I'm doing this late night, this is

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the perfect Like this sounds like coast to coast am

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type discussion. Now there we go. Now, the article continues.

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Not only that, but eighty three percent of men also

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believe they could form a deep emotional bond with an

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AI girlfriend. What's even scarier is that a whopping seventy

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eight percent of men surveyed said they would consider creating

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a replica of their X, and three quarters would duplicate

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their current partner to create a polished version of them. Look,

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that's that's That's basically what we're saying. And does this

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not fit in perfectly with man's sinfulness? We want what

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we want. Look, I've stated a million times, and I

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know people don't like this. I know it destroys the

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romantic idea of love, but I say it so many

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times because we are sinful, because we have a sinful nature.

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Let's be honest. Our core operating system is one of selfishness.

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I mean, come on, we can't deny that we operate

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from a selfish perspective, right, And so I argue all

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the time that we love in order to get We

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don't love in a selfless way. We love in a

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selfish way. I love you because of what I get

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from you. I know nobody wants to admit that. I

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know that destroys You're like, no, I'm married this person

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because I just I can give and give and give,

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and I never anything in return. I never want anything back,

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and I'm happy because I just love. No, you love

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because you know you're going to get something back. You

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get an emotional connection, you get physical intimacy, emotional intimacy,

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mental intimacy, companionship, friendship, support security, don't or don't tell me.

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You just love and the most selfless way. I just

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love just so that I could give you get something. Well,

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this is taking that reality and saying, hey, I can

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have an AI girlfriend and I love my current partner,

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but you know they have some flaws. I could replicate

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my current partner and get a polished version. I mean,

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come on, now, that's that's everything. Our sinful nature is.

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They go on to say, AI companionship allows people to

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be their authentic selves without fear of judgment. Now that's powerful. See,

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if you have an AI companion, you can be you.

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You can be whoever you. You don't have to change,

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you don't have to pretend, you don't have to do anything. Look,

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I've talked about this forever and I cannot say this

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is statistically true. I cannot say if this is statistically true,

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but I think there is some truth to this that

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in many cases, what happens is women will have a

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tendency to use sensuality, romantic words. They will build up

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the man, say all the things the men want to say,

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make the men feel powerful. And I'm just going to

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be more explicit. Women may use sex, sexuality, sensuality in

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order to get love, and men so they may use

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sensuality sexuality in order to obtain love, where men have

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a tendency to utilize romance, to utilize this passion and

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romance and saying all the right words and saying all

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the things they know the woman wants to say in

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order to get sex. Women will use sex to get love.

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Men will use love in order to get sex. Well,

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that may work in the dating, but then once someone

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gets married, well, then the woman may not feel like

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she needs to continue to use the sensuality and the

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sexuality in order to get love because well, I'm married now,

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so you're supposed to love me. And the man may

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feel like, well, I don't need to use love and

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being romantic in order to get sex because while she

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just get it because we're married. And so you see

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where that can create marital problems and sometimes leads to

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to lots of problems and having to seek marital counseling

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and can lead to a lot and can lead to

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a lot of just almost a disconnect and isolation and loneliness,

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right because you're like, wait, you used to give me this,

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and you used to give me this, and what happened. Well,

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I gave you to get I gave you to get

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what I wanted, and I gave you to get what

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I wanted. Now the expectation is I should just get

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it because we're married, and it doesn't always work that way. Well, see,

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when it comes to AI, you don't have to give

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in order to get. Hey, I'm just supposed to give

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you whatever you want, and you can be whomever you are.

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You can be whatever you are. You don't have to pretend,

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you don't have to change, you don't have to do this,

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you don't have to do things you don't like. You

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can just be you, and you don't have to worry

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about them going I don't really like this about you,

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and I don't like this, and I don't like your

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sense of humor, and I don't like this, and I'm

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like this. AI is just gonna be like You're perfect now.

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Of course, no human being can compete with it. Men

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can't compete with it, women can't compete with it. So

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AI companionship allows people to be their authentic selves without

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fear of judgment. All right. It creates a safe space

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to explore thoughts, emotions, and desires that you may feel

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too vulnerable to share in real life. So you can

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share whatever emotion you're feeling. You can share whatever thoughts

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you're thinking. You can share desires that you would never

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be able to share with you, maybe even your spouse

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you don't like, I can't share that. I know they

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would lose their mind if they. But with an AI

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companion you can just share anything you see that. This

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is crea I know many of you as if you're older,

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you're going to be like, this is just crazy, this

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is creepy, this is ridiculous. I understand it. I'm telling

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you AI is going to change the world in which

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we live. I continue to preach that, and then they

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refer to someone who discovered something about her sexuality, and

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this is a hang on, yeah she So this is

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a she using the platform and she discovered something about

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her sensuality, her sexuality that she previously felt too insecure

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to explore in real life. Right, because well, you're just

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with an AI companion, you get you can share everything. No,

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no one's gonna judge you. You don't have to worry

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that the AI companion is like, oh I cannot wait

296
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till I tell my girlfriends about this. Okay, oh my god,

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I'm gonna tell my sister or my mom. You are creepy,

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right AI You can say anything And they are like, oh,

299
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you're It's perfect. Now they go on to say, well,

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it's great that individuals are feeling more confident and comfortable

301
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being who they are. This seems like a slippery slope,

302
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or maybe just a band aid on collective loneliness that

303
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in mind collective loneliness. I think we are. I think

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almost everyone is beginning to acknowledge there is a loneliness.

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Some may even call it epidemic within society, and I

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think the church is beginning to Many churches are structuring

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itself as a cure to loneliness and have abandoned kind

308
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of a biblical mindset there. It's like, we're there to

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meet this need, and we could get into a discussion where,

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you know, we can get into a big theological discussion

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about that, and maybe we'll talk more about it. Now,

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listen to what it says. We already have AI replacing

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us in the workplace, but now it's happening in the bedroom.

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I think what raises the most concerned this is what

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the article says, is its ability to replicate another person

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that feels exploitative and even dangerous in many ways. I mean,

317
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imagine and some random dude creates an a AI girlfriend

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based on your sister, your daughter, your mother, or your wife.

319
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Then picture them beginning to feel possessive over this person,

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forming actual feelings for the individual, but channeling them into

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the robot. Now, if they were to run into the

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actual human version of their AI girlfriend, in real life.

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Who knows what could or would happen. The article even

324
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suggests ever heard of a crime of passion? Now I'm

325
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not saying I don't want to be all, you know,

326
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hyperbolic and go crazy, but yeah, if you can replicate someone,

327
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I want to build my AI girlfriend after this person,

328
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and it's actually a real per or it's their ex,

329
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or it's a coworker, or it's a neighbor, it's someone

330
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they go to church with. I mean, we can get

331
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really creepy cannon. Now it goes on and says a

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lot here, and at the end they say, I'm sure,

333
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I'm not sure. I want to find out, not sure.

334
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We really want to know how this is all going

335
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to play out. There's a lot of issues here how

336
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it's all going to work. So what I did is

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I thought it would be interesting to hand Ai this article.

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I said, hey, Ai, what do you think about this? Right?

339
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So AI breaks it down, it says. The article highlights

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a survey revealing that eighty percent of men would consider

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marrying an AI girlfriend if it were legal, with eighty

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three percent believing they could form a deep emotional bond.

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Seventy eight percent express interest in creating replicas of their

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ex partners. Seventy five percent would consider duplicating their current

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partner to create an idealized version. Now, this is what

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AI says the increasing inclination towards AI companions reflects a

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significant shift in human relationships. This is what AI says

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that this is reflecting a significant shift in human relationships.

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AI platforms like Replica offer users the opportunity to design

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personalized avatars, fostering emotional connection that some find comparable to

351
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human relationships. Users often value the emotional support and companionship

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provided by these AI entities, sometimes perceiving them as safer

353
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spaces to explore thoughts and emotion without fear of judgment.

354
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You see how that's that's a common theme. It appears here.

355
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Even AI is acknowledging this. This gives people the safe

356
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space they can talk about whatever. They can be laying

357
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a bed at one o'clock in the morning and just

358
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talk away with their AI companion either. You know, some

359
00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.680
AI platforms have voice chat, you can just have a

360
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normal conversation with it. Others it may be more text spased.

361
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But you're laying there one o'clock in the morning talking

362
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about anything fears, hopes, dreams, desires. Oh, and guess what

363
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AI is not going to be Like I'm tired and

364
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I want to go to sleep. AI is not going

365
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to do that. You see where this kind of leads

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to AI says this trend or what actually it's borrowing

367
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from the Atlantic here, this trend raises concerns about the

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potential for individuals to substitute human relations with AI interactions,

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potentially leading to increased social isolation. The Atlantic discusses how technology,

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including AI companions, contribute to a more solitary society with

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declining face to face interactions and increased loneliness. Moreover, the

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ability to replicate real individuals as AI companions introduces ethical dilemmas.

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Creating AI versions of real people without their consent can

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be seen as exploitative and may lead to unhealthy attachment

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or possessiveness, blurring the lines between reality and artificiality. And

376
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it takes that from Vice dot Com. So AI was

377
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borrowing from different sources there just so that you know,

378
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and it gave me the sources. So then I said, okay, AI,

379
00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:54.359
I definitely see all of this. But now let's look

380
00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:02.480
at this whole issue from a philological perspective. This is

381
00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:12.119
what AI says. The rise of AI Companions challenges traditional

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00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:19.160
views on relationships and the nature of human connection. The Vatican,

383
00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:22.599
I remember, I did it a broadcast on the Vaticans,

384
00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.160
the document they released. I even made it available to everyone.

385
00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.599
I told everyone to go read the Vatican's document. I

386
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:33.039
told everyone to go read it. The Vatican has expressed

387
00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:41.000
concern about AI's impact on human relationships, warning that reliance

388
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:45.039
on AI could lead to a form of enslavement and

389
00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:54.160
undermine the foundations of society. The document emphasizes that AI

390
00:27:54.279 --> 00:28:00.720
should compliment, not replace, human intelligence and relationships. So the

391
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:04.759
Vatican is worried that, hey, this could undermine the foundations

392
00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:07.680
of society. Well, is the foundation of society? Would you

393
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:10.400
say one of the foundations of society is Some would

394
00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:13.119
say it's the nuclear family. Someone would say, obviously, you

395
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.359
have to have relationships, you have to procreate, you have

396
00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:19.319
to bring what if it all breaks down. I'm not

397
00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:21.799
saying that's what's going to happen. I'm not trying to

398
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:27.079
be apocalyptic, hyperbolic. I'm not trying to be over dramatic,

399
00:28:27.640 --> 00:28:35.039
but this has some serious potentials. AI goes on to say.

400
00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:39.960
From a thiological perspective, the forming deep emotional bonds with

401
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:43.839
an AI entity raises questions about the nature of the

402
00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:50.599
soul and spiritual formation. Christianity Today discusses how interactions with

403
00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:54.279
AI can influence one's spiritual life, even if the AI

404
00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:59.319
likes genuine understanding or consciousness. Now, how does AI influence

405
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:09.119
one's spiritual so A, could AI could influence our thinking?

406
00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:13.720
I think that's fair. AI could influence our understanding. I

407
00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:22.880
think that's fair. Can AI influence us emotionally? Can AI

408
00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:28.680
influence us spiritually? Oh? These are questions nobody want. Well.

409
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:30.400
I mean, some are talking about it, but I'm thinking

410
00:29:30.440 --> 00:29:32.880
for the most part, people just think Again. I keep saying,

411
00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.359
AI is not just a fancy Google search. If you

412
00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:38.920
see AI is just a fancy Google search, you don't

413
00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:41.240
get it. Oh, I got a question, Let me just

414
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:46.720
ask AI. It's more than that. It's just it's something different.

415
00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:53.960
It's a different thing. The more people are familiar with

416
00:29:54.000 --> 00:29:56.079
it and the more they use it, the more they

417
00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:58.680
begin to see there's more going on here. I'm having

418
00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:03.039
a conversation. It remembers everything I have said. I can

419
00:30:03.079 --> 00:30:04.680
go to my A, I can go to this AI

420
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.960
app that I have right now, start talking about it,

421
00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.119
and it knows everything that we've already talked about. It

422
00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:13.519
remembers every conversation. I don't have to remind it of

423
00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:16.079
what I said. It just picks up the conversation where

424
00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:18.519
we left off. In fact, it may have to remind

425
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:28.039
me the prompts reflect that. This prompts reflection on the

426
00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:32.480
authenticity of such relationships and their alignment with theological principles.

427
00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:39.160
This is what AI says, This is how it ends.

428
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:44.440
In conclusion, while AI companions offer novel ways to explore

429
00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:50.200
emotional connections, they also present significant social and theological challenges.

430
00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:54.640
As technology continues to evolve, it is crucial to consider

431
00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:59.200
the implications of substituting human relationships with artificial ones, and

432
00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:03.039
to reflect on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of such interactions. Now,

433
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:06.000
I think the people who are going to be most vulnerable,

434
00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:09.119
this is just this is just my prediction. Are one

435
00:31:09.559 --> 00:31:14.319
people who've experienced great trauma, pain, hurt, betrayal at the

436
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:16.720
hands of other human beings, and they've grown sick of

437
00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:19.039
other human beings and they're tired of it. They're tired

438
00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:21.559
of the fighting and the bickering, and the church splits

439
00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:24.400
and the arguing and lying, and they just get sick

440
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:26.319
of it, and like, you know what, I don't need other people.

441
00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:28.880
Maybe you just grow tired of people just always all

442
00:31:28.960 --> 00:31:31.640
they care abouts themselves. They show up, they get what

443
00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:34.359
they want, and then I don't care about you, they

444
00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:37.039
just walk away. Who cares what you're going through. I'm

445
00:31:37.039 --> 00:31:39.039
going back to my life. I'll show up, get what

446
00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:41.240
I want, and live. And you're like, I feel used,

447
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:44.799
you feel abandoned, you feel isolated. Well then Ai comes

448
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:47.119
along and you're like, they never leave me. They never

449
00:31:47.200 --> 00:31:49.599
abandon me, they never stab me in the back, and

450
00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:55.480
they never betray me. You could see that could be

451
00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:58.200
make you very vulnerable, don't you think? I think it can.

452
00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:02.559
And I think people, for whatever reason, they find themselves

453
00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:12.119
in life alone, they find themselves in life isolated. So

454
00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:15.799
I challenged Ai here, I'm like, I feel like that

455
00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:21.160
many people, especially within the Christian community, may strongly condemn this. Oh,

456
00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.400
this is evil, this is wrong, this is satanic. And

457
00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:29.440
I understand that. But isn't there a reality here that

458
00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:35.039
we have to at least consider? And so Ai said,

459
00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:40.839
it is easy to dismiss ai companions as unnatural or problematic,

460
00:32:41.200 --> 00:32:48.160
but they exist in response to a deep and widespread issue, loneliness.

461
00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:54.599
Many people experience emotional and relational isolation, whether due to

462
00:32:54.680 --> 00:32:59.279
modern social dynamics, feled relationships, personal struggles, or even just

463
00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:02.880
the encree difficulty of forming deep human connections and a

464
00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:05.720
fast paced digital world. Whatever the reason, there are a

465
00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.000
million reasons where you can wake up one day and go,

466
00:33:08.359 --> 00:33:13.519
how did I end up here? Alone? Alone? Alone? Alone?

467
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:16.839
You do everything alone? How did I end up here?

468
00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:21.240
And then AI's like, hey, how are you doing today? Hey,

469
00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:23.440
what do you want to talk about? What's on your mind?

470
00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:30.519
How's your day going? Talk to me, Tell me your frustrations,

471
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:33.519
tell me your irritations, Tell me what it feels to

472
00:33:33.559 --> 00:33:35.680
be alone. And AI is right there to come for you,

473
00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:39.279
and it can pull out the best responses. It can

474
00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:46.119
pull from every psychological and counseling you know, knowledge that

475
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:48.359
it can and give you all the right answers and

476
00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:49.880
knowledge just give you their answer. It can give you

477
00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:56.200
the answers you want to hear. From a social perspective,

478
00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:59.000
loneliness is a growing crisis. Study show that many adults

479
00:33:59.000 --> 00:34:02.720
feel chronically alonely, and even marriages often like emotional and

480
00:34:02.759 --> 00:34:06.440
physical intimacy. The rise of AI companions suggests that people

481
00:34:06.440 --> 00:34:08.840
are searching for companionship. I want you to hear that

482
00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:14.599
it's supply and demand. There's no supply. If there's no demand,

483
00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:19.000
you don't have companies continuing to make AI companions and

484
00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:22.639
AI girlfriends. If there's not a need or a demand,

485
00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:26.000
there's a demand. There's a need. They're going and so

486
00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:31.239
it's supply and demand. You can mock it, Just remember this.

487
00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:37.519
Don't mock the people who may find themselves very much involved,

488
00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:41.559
don't mock them. You may want to try to understand

489
00:34:41.559 --> 00:34:43.639
how did you end up here? How did you end

490
00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:46.880
up so connected to an AI companion? How did you

491
00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:50.239
get there? Because they may say, well, here's where life

492
00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:53.320
took me. It took this turn, then it took this turn,

493
00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:56.280
then it went off a cliff, and I found myself abandoned,

494
00:34:56.280 --> 00:35:01.039
lonely and isolated, and well an AI girlfriend the answer. Now,

495
00:35:01.719 --> 00:35:04.679
I'm not saying that makes it right. I'm just simply

496
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:09.760
saying sometimes understanding. I mean, there's something going on. Even

497
00:35:09.800 --> 00:35:12.920
AI here says hey, we've got basically a problem here

498
00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:17.760
of loneliness and society that people are searching they want

499
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:20.039
to find a space where they feel heard. They want

500
00:35:20.039 --> 00:35:23.719
to find a space where they feel understood, and these

501
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:26.599
are things they may not find in real world relationships.

502
00:35:27.039 --> 00:35:30.199
AI relationships may not be real in the traditional sense,

503
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:35.960
but they can provide comfort, interaction, and even therapeutic benefits.

504
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:40.320
The concern is whether these connections ultimately deepen social disconnection

505
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:44.000
rather than help people engage with real human relationships. You

506
00:35:44.039 --> 00:35:47.840
can see if this starts meeting some of those needs, well,

507
00:35:47.880 --> 00:35:50.280
then it leads to well, then I don't need people,

508
00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:53.400
and then that just creates more isolation, and more people

509
00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:55.599
drop out than the fewer people, and then you can

510
00:35:55.639 --> 00:36:03.760
just see it begins to spiral. From a thiological perspective,

511
00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:08.280
loneliness and isolation are significant issues. The Christian faith, for instances,

512
00:36:08.320 --> 00:36:13.679
emphasizes human connection and human relationships within families, friendships, and

513
00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:17.000
the church. Genesis two eighteen even states it is not

514
00:36:17.079 --> 00:36:20.639
good that man should be alone. Yet many people, including Christians,

515
00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:23.639
struggle with deep loneliness, and the Church hasn't always effectively

516
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:26.840
addressed it. If people are turning to AI for companionship,

517
00:36:27.000 --> 00:36:30.119
it may suggest that real human relationships and communities may

518
00:36:30.159 --> 00:36:32.039
not be meeting their needs and just think about it

519
00:36:32.039 --> 00:36:34.199
from a theological perspective. I know AI is not going

520
00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:39.880
to go here. I can build relationships and companionships with

521
00:36:40.079 --> 00:36:47.199
people who are totally depraved, knowing inevitably, because of that

522
00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:51.840
philological reality, they're gonna let me down, They're gonna fail me,

523
00:36:52.119 --> 00:36:56.239
they're gonna hurt me. You just already know there's gonna

524
00:36:56.239 --> 00:37:00.280
be some catastrophic failure, probably at some point and way,

525
00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:09.719
shape or form. Rather than simply condemning AI companionship, more

526
00:37:09.760 --> 00:37:13.400
constructive approach might be might be to ask this, this

527
00:37:13.440 --> 00:37:16.079
is what AI says. Why are so many people drawn

528
00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:20.280
to AI relationships? Why? I think that's a good question. Why. Well,

529
00:37:20.519 --> 00:37:24.480
I think there is a built in need, and I

530
00:37:24.519 --> 00:37:28.800
think there is built in sin, and it's much easier

531
00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:32.800
to find a relationship with someone who basically you can

532
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:38.079
mold in shape to your liking and you don't have

533
00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:42.599
to give, you just take. I think that fits perfectly

534
00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:46.159
with our sinful nature, don't you. What does this say

535
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:48.440
about the state of human connection today? I think it

536
00:37:48.440 --> 00:37:52.079
says a lot. How can society, the church, and individuals

537
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:54.519
work to address loneliness in a healthier way. I don't

538
00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:57.119
know if we can, but it's something we have to discuss,

539
00:37:57.199 --> 00:38:00.519
and then this is how AI finishes everything. A companions

540
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:03.360
may not be an ideal solution, but they are a

541
00:38:03.400 --> 00:38:05.639
symptom of a much deeper issue. I want you to

542
00:38:05.639 --> 00:38:09.920
hear that AI companions may not actually be a solution.

543
00:38:10.639 --> 00:38:15.239
They are a symptom. Now. I joked around a little

544
00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:18.719
bit Valentine's Day and just get your AI girlfriend, but

545
00:38:19.119 --> 00:38:27.000
this is kind of a serious issue. It's a symptom. Now.

546
00:38:27.159 --> 00:38:30.119
The people who will condemn it the loudest, so typically

547
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:34.039
the people who have the very thing that the people

548
00:38:34.079 --> 00:38:36.840
who are drawn to an AI girlfriend or an AI

549
00:38:36.920 --> 00:38:41.079
companion doesn't have. You can sit there holding your husband's hand,

550
00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:44.400
you can sit there with your relationship and your intimacy

551
00:38:44.639 --> 00:38:46.800
and your family and your friends, and you've got it

552
00:38:46.880 --> 00:38:50.960
all great for you. You just don't be pointing your

553
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:54.239
finger at those who may go and I have what exactly,

554
00:38:56.719 --> 00:38:59.199
and you can say, oh, you just need God, you

555
00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:02.480
just need you just knew. Well, then, why don't you

556
00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:04.679
give up everything you have and you just have Jesus,

557
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:07.679
Why don't you don't not get into bed with someone tonight?

558
00:39:07.760 --> 00:39:11.119
Why don't you don't have any physical intimacy don't have

559
00:39:11.159 --> 00:39:14.400
any emotional intimacy, and you spend hour after hour after

560
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:26.320
hour alone, then talk your big game. AI companions may

561
00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:29.679
not be an ideal solution. They may be symptoms of

562
00:39:29.719 --> 00:39:33.039
a much deeper issue. Instead of just rejecting them, it's

563
00:39:33.079 --> 00:39:36.280
worth considering how to foster real, meaningful relationships in a

564
00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:43.679
world where people feel alone, and a world where everyone

565
00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:49.719
in it has a sinful nature which is self serving,

566
00:39:53.800 --> 00:40:00.960
and where philologically speaking, we love. I mean, come on,

567
00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:03.679
there's no way to get around this. If you believe

568
00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:05.920
in a sinful nature, you have to admit this. We

569
00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:08.360
live in a world where we love. We love, I love,

570
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:13.000
you love. We love because of what we get. Our

571
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:17.719
love is selfish. It's not self less. We can say

572
00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:20.559
it's supposed to be, but over and over and over,

573
00:40:20.719 --> 00:40:26.360
it is selfish. You don't get certain things in return.

574
00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:29.639
You don't get what you want, you don't get what

575
00:40:29.719 --> 00:40:33.199
you need, you don't get what you like. You will

576
00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:38.440
look somewhere else to get it, or the minute you

577
00:40:38.519 --> 00:40:41.880
find something that you think is better, you'll go to that.

578
00:40:47.079 --> 00:40:56.079
It's a brave new world out there, kids. I don't

579
00:40:56.079 --> 00:40:58.440
know where it goes. I don't know all the soul.

580
00:40:58.760 --> 00:41:02.760
I'm not pretending sitting here tonight to have any you know,

581
00:41:03.280 --> 00:41:06.400
crystal ball, and I can see where it's going. I'm

582
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:09.360
seeing that we have to be looking because things are

583
00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:14.199
happening rapidly, and as AI improves, as AI gets better,

584
00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:18.079
gets faster, gets quicker, becomes more and more human like

585
00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:26.960
the AI companion market, the AI companion industry will continue

586
00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:32.760
to build and grow and explode. Now, I don't know

587
00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:38.039
what this means for teenagers. They're filled with a million emotions,

588
00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:42.679
so many they got bullying and feeling awkward and not

589
00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:46.760
fitting in. But yet they could find an AI companion

590
00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:50.159
that could just be there with them and hear them

591
00:41:50.159 --> 00:41:52.519
and listen. They many times, teenagers don't feel like their

592
00:41:52.559 --> 00:41:55.039
parents understand them. They don't feel like they're teenagers. They

593
00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:57.360
don't feel like they're their friends understand They don't feel

594
00:41:57.360 --> 00:41:59.960
like anyone understands them. They fall alone, they feel isolated,

595
00:42:00.159 --> 00:42:08.559
but there's a companion on their phone. Now. We may

596
00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:11.400
be in the infancy stage of this, right, I mean well,

597
00:42:11.400 --> 00:42:13.079
I mean obviously we're pretty far to I think we're

598
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:15.519
past the infancy stage. We maybe in the toddler stage

599
00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:19.239
of this, right, maybe even moving to junior High. This

600
00:42:19.320 --> 00:42:22.480
is moving rapidly, and you have a lot of people

601
00:42:22.519 --> 00:42:25.119
already saying, well, if I could, I'd marry my AI

602
00:42:25.199 --> 00:42:29.199
girlfriend if it was illegal, and I would. I'm thinking

603
00:42:29.199 --> 00:42:32.960
about replicating my ex or replicating my current spouse and

604
00:42:33.039 --> 00:42:36.920
just making it better. I'm gonna build back better. That's

605
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.800
kind of a political statement in okay, never mind, all right,

606
00:42:40.159 --> 00:42:41.800
all right, there you go. I'm just gonna leave it there.

607
00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:44.599
I don't know what to say, something profound. I don't

608
00:42:44.639 --> 00:42:55.840
have anything profound to say. Is there something profound you

609
00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:57.719
can say? At this point, I think all we have

610
00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:59.960
to do is just accept the reality and then struggle

611
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:05.239
through it. And for millions of people, millions of people,

612
00:43:05.639 --> 00:43:12.119
Christians and non Christians, February the fourteenth, Valentine's Day will

613
00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:22.840
not be a day of romance, passion, intimacy. It's gonna

614
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:29.840
be of intense loneliness, isolation, and a slap in the

615
00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:34.280
face of what they don't have that's already hard enough.

616
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:37.719
Or many churches will have some kind of like you know,

617
00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:40.960
valin they'll do something for Valentine's for the singles, which

618
00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:43.119
almost kind of puts pressure on them. You need to

619
00:43:43.119 --> 00:43:45.599
find someone you need. How long you're going to be single,

620
00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:47.840
you need to find someone. A lot of times singles

621
00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:49.960
hate going to church because the church is constantly trying

622
00:43:49.960 --> 00:43:52.840
to get them hooked up with someone, and it's like,

623
00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:58.239
you leave me alone, right, And then that's even more

624
00:43:58.280 --> 00:44:00.400
pressure because you feel like there's something wrong with you

625
00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:03.199
because you don't have someone. Sometimes the church actually makes

626
00:44:03.239 --> 00:44:06.440
the problem worse, or they do the big Valentine's Day

627
00:44:06.519 --> 00:44:08.760
thing and it's you know, maybe they do the I've

628
00:44:08.760 --> 00:44:11.760
been in churches that did Valentine Night banquets. Well that's

629
00:44:11.800 --> 00:44:13.800
great for all the people who have someone to take

630
00:44:13.840 --> 00:44:24.559
to the banquet. Okay, yeah, I don't know. But next

631
00:44:24.599 --> 00:44:27.480
next Friday, there's there'll be some people. I think that.

632
00:44:27.599 --> 00:44:30.920
I think most people will probably have a wonderful night

633
00:44:31.079 --> 00:44:36.239
and hopefully a wonderful, passion filled weekend of intimacy and closeness,

634
00:44:36.440 --> 00:44:39.079
and it'll be wonderful. But there will be millions of

635
00:44:39.079 --> 00:44:41.320
people who will they're gonna kind of just be looking

636
00:44:41.360 --> 00:44:44.519
around going. When they crawl in the bed that night,

637
00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:48.679
they're gonna be like, man, how did I end up here?

638
00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:58.760
Now the temptation could be ai for older people. I

639
00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:01.119
don't think it will be. They'll they just handle their loneliness,

640
00:45:01.119 --> 00:45:05.360
probably in a different way. Others may be drawn to

641
00:45:05.440 --> 00:45:08.079
the AI thing. I don't. Everyone struggles and deals with

642
00:45:08.119 --> 00:45:10.840
it in a different way. Should Christianity be able to

643
00:45:10.840 --> 00:45:14.960
provide something? I think it should, I think and theory

644
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:18.159
I think it should theoretically, I don't know practically, because

645
00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:21.840
you're gonna say, oh, yes, you give your loneliness to Jesus.

646
00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:24.119
You have a friend that sticks closer and a brother.

647
00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:26.480
He will love you, he will care for you. But again,

648
00:45:26.559 --> 00:45:28.639
if that, if Jesus was the answer to all of this,

649
00:45:28.679 --> 00:45:30.360
then why do we need all of these? Why does

650
00:45:30.400 --> 00:45:32.840
everyone seem to need a companion and a spouse? All right? Well,

651
00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:37.159
obviously because there's a need there, right, So does Jesus

652
00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:39.480
only fulfill it for single people? We could get into

653
00:45:39.480 --> 00:45:42.360
a whole discussion here, all right, I'll stop there. Thanks

654
00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:46.400
for listening, everyone, have a wonderful, wonderful night and a

655
00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:53.800
lot to think about. On this Friday, February seventh, as

656
00:45:53.840 --> 00:46:00.719
the culture, advertising and stores will be reminding us of

657
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:07.400
February fourteenth, God bless