alcoholic trying to get sober after a relapse tells Google's "Health Coach" about it.
it tells them to drink every hour and messages them to make sure they're drinking as soon as they wake up.
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@molly0xfff What kind of CEREAL?!!
If "drinking" can mean both water or alcohol, what PUN is the AI stuck on?
@molly0xfff let's not take random 0 upvote 0 proof reddit posts as factual
@molly0xfff "I used a known very shitty tool, and had shitty results" isn't exactly a revelation. And I don't believe it's much of a revelation to most people that AI is a shitty tool.
@molly0xfff
> alcoholic trying to get sober after a relapse ... Google's "Health Coach" ... tells them to drink every hour
That's horrifying, on so many levels. We're in a truly bizarre timeline when a subreddit becomes the *more* sensible place to get advice about drug use ; )
@strypey @molly0xfff @ptoothfish I'm glad you brought that up, Dave. Your correct. It should have said every 10 minutes. And a fifth of the beverage of your choice. Here's some websites that may help: whiskey.com vodka.ru
Yrs, Ms. Ann Thrope, AI
@molly0xfff Someone reflecting so much and then just doing what a chatbot says??? ... sounds fishy. Alcoholics Anonymous are quite everywhere to talk with.
I believe that chatbots give dangerous advice, it's known from lawsuits. But I don't believe that guy that he only drank because of a chatbot. Sounds like a scapegoat story.
@molly0xfff 6-12 beers a day is very much a ton, folks
This is... Hngh
@molly0xfff I'm absolutely disturbed that the AI is initiating contact.
@molly0xfff Found a pic of the AI
@molly0xfff This does not pass the smell test to me. "If you want to get dry, start by drinking more alcohol" is such obviously bad advice that anybody - especially someone with a history of trying to quit - would recognize it as bullshit immediately.
@molly0xfff That's exactly the type of advice I get from long term alcoholics.
@molly0xfff I realise that thus thread is about AI , but if someone was indeed needing help to stop drinking, I've been using an app called TryDry® see https://alcoholchange.org.uk/about-us/about-our-charity/who-we-are
Not just an app, but also a whole range of advice an local support. Sorry this is UK based, but could help you anyway...
@molly0xfff They definitely need to reach out to their local alcohol team for support as alcohol withdrawal effects can be pretty scary.
I don't know why I'm surprised again and again by how terrible AI is unchecked. I'm glad they deleted it and reached out to some humans who I really hope are not reddit bots.
@molly0xfff Next thing #Google is offering discount codes for #subscription-based #PillReminder - #Apps to #Opioid #addicts, I guess…
- DID THEY EVER TESTED THEIR SHITE!??
@molly0xfff I'm staying to think that the idiots who use this crap deserve what they get, I just wish that their horrendous choices didn't impact the rest of us.
Also "AI" "Health Coach"? What kind of evil capitalist creates something like that?
I would prefer to live in a society where, if a product is marketed for purpose X and someone uses it for purpose X, they can have a reasonable expectation that it actually works (or, at an absolute minimum, is not actively harmful for X), without having to research the underlying technology involved in implementing the product.
@david_chisnall @molly0xfff Sure, but at the same time, if you buy a stick of dynamite that's marketed as a suppository laxative, you shouldn't need to be told not to stick it up your ass and light it. I agree that there should definitely be regulation that makes sure that the marketing accurately describes the product, but we now live in a world where "AI" is marketed for everything despite it being good at almost nothing. The marketplace of "AI" is ruled by the principle of caveat emptor.
@StarkRG @david_chisnall @molly0xfff in this specific hypothetical, society would definitely put the person selling dynamite sticks in prison immediately and keep them there.
@molly0xfff AI takes the risks associated with delirium tremens too seriously
@molly0xfff ”It’s just an early release. The next model will have fixed this, we promise!!”
@molly0xfff People who are addicted to benzodiazepines, alcohol, and barbiturates cannot abruptly stop - something I know from my own experience. If this person is drinking 2 fifths a day like Gerald Ford, then that might explain the advice from the AI.
@molly0xfff Realism drives to darkness
@molly0xfff ai is made for general help like in exams or paperwork (but don't abuse it and check the stuff the ai made and see it's right or not)
NOW, there's a big Problem here.
@molly0xfff the second-best thing about this post, other than adding to my citable cases of how unsuited LLM-stuff is for anyone to access (let alone pin world economies on), is that it gave me a whole bunch of people to block and never have to worry about interacting with ever again
...yay?
@molly0xfff reads like a psa and help me rolled into 1. ai unites humans. who’d knew
@molly0xfff the thing with personalized services is that there its much harder to gauge what the service is doing to a certain cohort of users.
We will never know if the Fitbit health coach targets alcholics differently.
And we know from previous examples of Uber etc. that the algorithms exploit people's vulnerabilities.
@molly0xfff Junkie just making excuses.
@Oldmikie @molly0xfff it's always fucking mastodon.social
@molly0xfff I highly advise seeing a doctor right away. This is worth visiting an emergency room for professional advice and keep track of the AI interface.
Sober alcoholic here. That is the worst “health advice” ever.
@molly0xfff I sincerely wish all people would remember AI is a tool and nothing more. They should not relinquish control of their lives or identity. I also think it is blatantly irresponsible for companies to promote it in a way that suggests doing this is a good thing.
@molly0xfff I've actually enjoyed my Google health coach and generally it's worth it and just re-up'd at $100 a year. The only weird thing it's done so far it asked me about "hyperarousal". I might have had a normal night boner but hyperaroused seemed like a bit much. It's also weird that it tracks or can detect arousal/hyperarousal but only in the background, show me my horny stats.
fwiw, i did some digging before posting the screenshot.
based on their comment history they're a regular AI user (commenting about using Claude to code, etc.) they've also been posting about trying to quit drinking for 13 years
and frankly i think if someone is trying to karma farm by bashing AI, they're probably not going to do it on r/stopdrinking
It's good that you tried to verify as much as possible here – it still sounds a bit fishy, though.
Ideally, a journalist would stumble over this and turn it into a thoroughly researched story.
@molly0xfff hi princess how are you doing nice meeting you
@molly0xfff Thanks, really appreciate the extra context / you checking before posting. It's hard to know what's rage bait and not, so this is helpful.
@molly0xfff my first thought was did it mistake context and recommend drinking water ? that seems like reasonable fitness advice. The fitbit part is confusing.
@molly0xfff
Does seem like the kind of person that would latch onto any excuse to keep repeating bad habits while disowning their agency.
@tuneintodetuned why are we blaming alcoholics for google's irresponsible software?
@molly0xfff Why are you unable or unwilling to capitalize the first word of a sentence?
If you want to talk about responsibility for grown-ups, you'd probably be more persuasive if you wrote like one.
@molly0xfff @tuneintodetuned I only chimed in because it sounded so far fetched. Google did buy fitbit and I have access to the AI feature as well. I just tested it and it advises to seek help from a medical professional. There is also a disclaimer about medical advice on the bottom of the chat box. Not that I am the first to jump up to defend google, but I think the person's post misrepresents reality. As someone who drank a lot for a few years, it was helpful when people called me out on my bs
@molly0xfff
I rather blame Google, this specific alcoholic as well as every person that could've helped them fight their addiction and didn't.
This hits too close to home. It's a long and tough struggle but not a futile one.
These companies' constant abuse is unforgivable and this example affecting a specially vulnerable demographic deserves attention, but I'd still never watch someone harm themself and reinforce their issues by telling them they had no choice.
@molly0xfff I feel obligated to point to Michael Reeves' short https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WP5_XJY_P0Q
@molly0xfff thank you for posting this and digging into it. “Is this legit” was my first question
@molly0xfff I am uncertain about this post. Fitbit doesn't have any sort of background messenger that will reach out and say "don't forget to drink." They might be misinterpreting or intentionally misreading the standard coaching notifications. If he is drinking 6-12 beers daily, he won't be thinking clearly.
I only say all of this because as much as I think we need to question AI, we need to avoid making stuff up or drawing conclusions without evidence.
