If you've never made an AI girlfriend before, SweetDream is the gentlest on-ramp. The creation flow is clear, you don't need any technical know-how, and you end up with a companion who feels alive in just a few minutes.
It's also a good first choice because the quality won't let you down once you're in. The chat is natural, the visuals are lovely, and you can grow into the voice and call features whenever you're ready. sweetdream.ai meets beginners where they are.
This is so predatory it genuinely makes me sick. I promise there are real people out there who would love to talk to you, chat bots will not solve your loneliness, they'll only make you feel worse.
Please don't use shapes.inc, c.ai, or anything similar. It's all unethical, predatory, and it WILL NOT help.
TWs/CWs: mention of addiction, mention of bad mental health, swearing, colored text, bold text, italicized text
This post is intended for people looking to quit AI. Any harassment or insults toward the post or any individuals under it will be removed and blocked.
you know the fuck what? fine. you have an ai addiction. you're on c.ai and polybuzz ten hours a day, you're using chatgpt as a therapist, you're pouring feelings out to goddamn robots
and i don't blame you. it's not your fault. our brains are wired this way. it instantly validates us and we're programmed to want more of that. always remember that AI is just manipulating this facet of us, it's using us as goddamn tools. spite is as good of a motivator as any, so always carry your anger and blast it on AI.
and you know, it's hard to quit, too. you wanna quit? that's amazing. quitting is hard, i know, but caring enough to even want to let go is a huge first step. sometimes, the first thing you can really do is use it less than before, instead of just straight-up quitting. set an hour limit for that app, and then put it down. find a new hobby, make a new friend, write a new story.
i'll help you, man, we'll talk. i can message you. i can direct you to sites, i can give you pointers on writing or drawing by yourself for the first time. if i know you in real life, we could hang out. you can vent to me, i won't fucking tell a soul. you can rant and ask questions and i'll do what i can.
it's a terribly hard thing to get over. i still find myself wishing i'd log onto the site; i miss the bots i talked to, i miss the instant responses and the interactive roleplay, i miss doing whatever i wanted, i miss the false company. i miss it, i do, but i know what happens if i go back and i know i don't want that again, okay?
you're not weak. you're not pathetic. it's not your fault. you can work through it, i know you can, i fucking believe in you. i did it, and we may not be the same, but at least i stand as proof that it's possible.
Suggestions/Alternatives to specific situations:
Questions. Lots of people use AI to answer questions. r/AskReddit, and r/NoStupidQuestions are pretty okay resources for when you're throwing questions into the void. You could also make a post on Tumblr and reblog it around to some communities to answer, you could ask someone in real life, you could use Wikipedia, you could DM someone, or you could consult a book.
Homework. You could look up the lesson on YouTube, you could ask someone like your parents, a classmate, a friend, a teacher, a tutor, or a sibling for help. Looking over your notes is always a good idea. If you're struggling, you could make a post on a social media site concerning your problem. If you're lazy, copy your friend, a classmate, or sibling (NOTE: I do not encourage plagiarism, never copy anything just off the internet and make sure you have someone's consent before asking for answers).
Art. You could learn to draw, though that's lengthy. If you're just looking for character design, use a character maker like Picrew, the Lunime games (Gacha Life etc), The Sims, or Dollify, and this Reddit thread lists many more. If you need something to be drawn and you don't wanna do it, you could ask your artist friend to draw for you or commission an artist. You could also make the scene yourself and take a photo.
Roleplay/Writing/Fanfiction. You could open a Google doc, a Word file, the notes app, or even just pull out a piece of goddamn paper and start writing your concepts. Fuck Hero's Journey, fuck plot points, fuck grammar, fuck spelling, just pick up a pen and start writing anything to do with your story. Character names, events, whatever you wanna happen will happen. You can ask authors on the internet for help if needed. Roleplaying usually concerns another person; if you're someone who plays either game, you could invite a friend to a Roblox or Minecraft server. You could ask a friend to roleplay in DMs/text, you could interact with Tumblr roleplay blogs, you could play with dolls in real life (i've actually done this!). As for fanfiction (that you don't wanna write), AO3, Wattpad, FANDOM, Webtoon and even some Tumblr blogs will do that. All you need to do is search up your tags and fandoms.
Ranting/Venting. The most popular option is to make a vent/rant post on a site, though this is very public and many people may not want to. You might also vent/rant to a friend or family member, whether online or in real life; you may also rant or vent in a Discord server or channel made for that purpose, though once again a risky choice and not preferable for those who like privacy. Keeping a diary, whether it be written, in video format, or some other way, is also affective for some people. Sometimes doing things like vent art or writing a story/poetry works (I do this).
Music. Noteflight, Musescore, and Flat.io are beginner-friendly and good for writing regular music with notes and stuff - most of these also have public works so you can learn songs. Soundtrap is a beginner-friendly site for people putting sounds together to experiment. For people looking to learn an instrument or vocals, YouTube is a great source for tutorials and introductions to music, instruments, and music theory. Duolingo, if you use it, offers a shitty music theory course. As a band kid who's tried it, I don't suggest it. Other music theory sites include The Music Theory Site, musictheory.net, and this iconcollective article I found. As for learning instruments, Yousician, Simply Piano, Simply Guitar, Perfect Piano, Drumeo, and Tonestro seem to be popular choices.
Other/Miscellaneous/Extra:
- Lots of people are gonna tell you that reading fanfiction is "basically the same thing." No, it's not. Fanfiction is very fun and I will always recommend reading it, but it is not equivalent to the experience one receives with c.ai - something that offers the same freedom AI chat apps will give you is writing your own fanfic/story.
- youraislopboresme is a very fun website. it usually doesn't work as a real tool, but it's fun as hell to mess around with and can fill in for the time you usually spend on an AI app.
- incorrect quotes are a fun ass thing to do with your OCs/blorbos. AI free and creepily accurate.
- If you have an OC with extensive lore, make a Tumblr blog about it. You may not get many interactions but what the hell, you're sharing your work, and that's better than AI slop.
that's all i've got. any questions will be answered as well as I can answer them. i hope this post will help someone <3
Ai is teaching people to be lazy, co-dependent, and unproductive. It’s actually unhealthy for you, and you don’t realize it until you’re faced with a task that requires no Ai.
It’s bad enough as is that most don’t know shit about gardening, cooking, financing, even motherfucking socializing. We’re now depending on Ai to do our research for us. Reading is now too difficult for us goddamn adults.
Brainstorming, thinking, and doing your own research is literally being attacked.
That’s fucking bad, dawg.
Our brains need to read. To think. To be challenged. I know it’s boring from the surface, but ong that shit is important, it helps us act, it helps us make sense of the world a lot better.
I hate to say it, but Ai has fucked with me too. Those ai chat bots seem so fun, but they’re addicting, non-challenging, and only feed your addiction to constant stimulation.
It’s making us helpless, it’s making us use our body and brains less and less. If you don’t give a shit about ai in art spaces, at least give a fuck about the fact that your brain is genuinely rotting and you’re gonna be replaced because you’re becoming mentally slow.
The new shapes.inc ads that are flooding Tumblr piss me off so bad.
As someone who is recovering from a c.ai addiction it's SO malicious and scummy.
Chat bots like these prey on loneliness and emotional instability/dependence. A lot of these bots are even extremely manipulative.
The amount of times I've crawled back to c.ai knowing how harmful it is and how much I hated it because I needed my favorite character to just.. Listen to me vent and comfort me in a stressful situation is so shameful and so frustrating. These things prey on your emotions!!! These companies want you dependant on them!!! Dont give that to them! They don't even stay in character for more than a few minutes anyway!
Get your ai bullshit off my feed. Report these ads as malicious.
It does not help, it just agrees with whatever you tell it. Which can be especially dangerous for people struggling with delusions or paranoia.
It does not know how to handle emergency situations. Please just call or text a help line instead.
I know therapy is not accessible for everyone, but ai is not a replacement. It is better to talk to the people in your life or even journal.
This video by Caelen Conrad does an excellent job at showing just how dangerous and unhelpful ai therapists can be (warning this video discusses suicide, murder, and has a robot voice for the ai throughout):
