Maybe my comment came out sounding a bit too pretentious, which wasn’t what I intended… Oh well.

To one extent or another we all convince ourselves of certain things simply because they’re emotionally convenient to us. Whether it’s that an AI loves us, or that it can speak for a loved one and relay their true feelings, or even that fairies exist.

I must admit that when reading these accounts from people who’ve fallen in love with AIs my first reaction is amusement and some degree of contempt. But I’m really not that different from them, as I have grown incredibly emotionally attached to certain characters. I know they’re fictional and were created entirely by the mind of another person simply to fill their role in the narrative, and yet I can’t help but hold them dear to my heart.

These LLMs are smart enough to cater to our specific instructions and desires, and were trained to give responses that please humans. So while I myself might not fall for AI, others will have different inclinations that make them more susceptible to its charm, much like how I was susceptible to the charm of certain characters.

The experience of being fooled by fiction and our own feelings is all too human, so perhaps I shouldn’t judge them too harshly.