One important story that I feel got lost during the end of 2025 is how white-presenting "18-year old" female "AI" companions are cosplayed by 30-year old fathers in Kenyan slums. At a huge cost to their mental health.
"My sole responsibility was to keep the conversation going, no matter what it did to me."
"The challenge went beyond just switching genders; I also had to perform across different sexual identities. Sometimes I was a straight woman flirting with men. Other times, I had to be a lesbian woman talking to other women about desires I'd never felt. In some conversations, I was expected to be a gay man discussing intimate details I knew nothing about. As a straight man, I had no roadmap for understanding what these users wanted or needed, but I had to fake it anyway. Bills don't wait for your comfort zone. The guilt ate at me every night."
I'll do a writeup for my newsletter, but here is Michael Geoffrey Abuyabo Asia's story in his own words (PDF): https://per.ax/nai
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