Good For You: Humans, Libraries. Maybe Not So Good: AI Ghosts For After You Die.
Also neat: talking to astronauts from your front yard
Paul Gilmartin on the podcast
Yes, well, I’ll admit it. Depresh Mode is not the ONLY mental health podcast out there in the world. There’s also the Mental Illness Happy Hour, which Paul Gilmartin has been hosting since 2011 when dinosaurs roamed the earth and were known to sink the ships of Magellan and Columbus. Five years before even I was hosting mental health podcasts. Long time ago. So Paul has some accumulated wisdom from all those years of hosting PLUS accumulated wisdom of dealing with his own bumpy mental health journey. Paul joins me this week to talk about all this.
Paul is doing better now than he used to be. No longer fixated on suicidal ideation, for instance, and no longer in problematic behavior patterns with drugs and alcohol. He’s still an addict, mind you, because that’s how that works, but no longer using. Still dealing with depression, also, because that’s how THAT works. But he’s coping. He’s dealing with it all in healthier ways.
A big part of that effort is support groups. Paul has had therapists and had psychiatrists over the years (his psychiatrist’s ultimatum is part of why he finally found recovery) but he says the biggest thing that has helped him is support groups and talking on the phone with friends as part of his ongoing routine. It’s people. That’s what makes the difference. Along with not eating sugar and white flour.
People are making “generative ghosts”, which might hurt the mental health of the living
I don’t want to use the terms “crazy” or “nuts” or even “bonkers” for this story so I’ll go for the more pedestrian “fascinatingly unusual”. A South Korean company is making virtual selves for people who are dying so that their loved ones can be comforted or creeped out after they are gone.
In a two-minute video from the South Korean startup DeepBrain AI, viewers – and potential buyers – get a sneak peak into Re;memory, a “premium AI human service” that allows those left behind to cherish “loved ones forever.” For only €10 to 20 thousand, buyers get a seven-hour filming and interview session to help create a synthetic version of a person based on their real voice and image data. And for another thousand Euros, loved ones can get a 30-minute “reunion” to interact with the deceased persons’ digital twin in a “memorial showroom” equipped with a 400-inch screen and high-quality sound system.
This is bananas. Dammit, sorry, used a pejorative mental health term. Sorry. So that’s the first problem. The second problem is that this kind of uncanny Death Valley might really mess with the bereaved’s sense of reality.
With advanced generative ghosts, the combination of dark patterns, or deceptive user interface experiences that “trick” users into doing things they didn’t mean to, could facilitate the development of addictive, parasocial relationships that might harm the mental health of grieving individuals. For instance, it might be more responsible for only the living to be able to initiate interactions with generative ghosts, disallowing the systems from initiating communications via “push notifications” or some equivalent form of communication.
My more sensible side says that this will not catch on. I mean, Hologram Tupac isn’t exactly playing the Sphere in Las Vegas. Maybe people simply don’t want something just because that thing can be concocted.
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Awesome librarian resigns to deal with mental health
Kind of a good news/bad news situation with Mychal Threets, the Solano, California librarian who became a viral sensation thanks to his sincere and loving advocacy for the library system. Threets announced that he was resigning his librarian post to more actively deal with his mental health issues.
Bad news because the resignation takes Threets away from the position and work he clearly loves and because his mental health needed more attention. I wonder also if the scrutiny and inevitable backlash that goes with this type of fame exacerbated the issues he was dealing with. But good news also because he’s freaking dealing with it. He made his mental health - made himself - a priority. And that’s a very good thing.
Guy in Michigan uses homemade antenna to talk with astronauts from his front yard
Why isn’t everyone doing this? Why am I not doing this right now?
On Sleeping with Celebrities: Stefanie Wilder-Taylor and Cecily Knobler and, really, Barenaked Ladies
Maybe “One Week” could be a lullaby?
Technically, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor and Cecily Knobler are not and have never been part of the lineup of the band Barenaked Ladies. But in their own way they feel like the band is at least part of them. These best friends host the podcasts Rose Pricks and Bored A.F. and Stefanie is the author of a remarkable number of books, dealing with, among other topics, parenting and sobriety. They love Barenaked Ladies in a really deep and sincere way and have stories to tell about their encounters with various actual members of that band. Tune in and drift off to sleep with tales of Canadian songsmithery.
I can talk to you if you want me to
One of my favorite things to do in the world is travel places to give speeches. I have spoken to community groups, corporations, schools, and just about everywhere else. A fun run, once. Another time at the Carter Center in Atlanta. I give speeches about mental health and wellness, delayed covid trauma, the optimism I have for fighting mental health stigma, and more. The speeches are well-received, judging from the rave feedback I’ve been receiving. Perhaps you would like me to come talk to your group? It’s easy to arrange! Just visit Collective Speakers and get in touch with my friends there.