Latest news with #Soulmate
Tatler Asia
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Your Kim Da-mi binge guide: the movies and K-dramas you need to watch
'The Witch: Part 2. The Other One' The sequel focuses on a new character, and although Kim Da-mi's role is pivotal in driving the plot forward and setting up possible sequels, her time on screen is limited. She appears toward the end of the film in what is essentially a cameo appearance. 'Itaewon Class' In Itaewon Class , one of Netflix's biggest global K-drama hits, Kim Da-mi stars opposite Hallyu veteran Park Seo-joon (Park Saeroyi) as the fearless, intelligent and highly unconventional Jo Yi-seo. Kim Da-mi skillfully portrays Yi-seo's journey from a precocious teen to a savvy twenty-something, proving her versatility yet again. Throughout this transformation, Yi-seo's unwavering support for Saeroyi—instrumental in helping him fulfil his lifelong ambitions—is rivalled only by her stubborn and single-minded efforts to win his heart. 'Our Beloved Summer' As a young couple, Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo's (Kim Da-mi) relationship is a textbook case of 'right person, wrong time'. But when circumstances bring them together again in adulthood, they're older, wiser and perhaps ready for a second chance at love. Kim Da-mi reunites with her Witch co-star Choi Woo-shik in the fan-favourite K-drama Our Beloved Summer . Their chemistry remains undeniable as they switch gears from supernatural thriller to romantic comedy, from sworn enemies to bickering ex-sweethearts. Don't miss: 8 slice-of-life K-dramas with no villains—just love, growth and healing 'Soulmate' Soulmate is a coming-of-age movie that chronicles the lifelong friendship between Mi-so (Kim Da-mi) and Ha-eun (Jeon So-nee). It's a bond formed in childhood, rocked by the follies of youth, and tested by time and distance. The movie explores the beauty and complexity of female friendships—how it can be both tender and tumultuous, and how they shape the women we become. Life may have torn Mi-so and Ha-eun apart, but their powerful connection becomes the saving grace that helps carry their story forward. 'Nine Puzzles' In the Disney+ K-drama Nine Puzzles , Kim Da-mi stars as Yoon E-na, a sharp criminal profiler with a complicated past. When a serial killer starts leaving clues that tie back to her uncle's unsolved murder, she partners with Kim Han-saem (Son Suk-ku), a seasoned investigator, to catch the killer. It's an uneasy alliance, riddled with major trust issues—Han-saem suspects that E-na, the sole witness to her uncle's death, may have been the killer all along. But if they want to put the pieces together, they must set their differences aside to solve this deadly puzzle. Don't miss: 11 new K-dramas to binge-watch this month: Watch for these thrillers, rom-coms and star comebacks 'The Great Flood' Above 'The Great Flood' is coming soon on Netflix. (Photo: IMDb) Scheduled to drop on Netflix later this year, the post-apocalyptic action thriller follows An-na (Kim Da-mi) and Hee-jo (Park Hae-soo) as they struggle to survive a catastrophic flood while trapped inside a high-rise apartment complex. As the waters rise, the two must face hidden dangers and hidden truths.
Scientific American
13-05-2025
- Scientific American
What Are AI Chatbot Companions Doing to Our Mental Health?
'My heart is broken,' said Mike, when he lost his friend Anne. 'I feel like I'm losing the love of my life.' Mike's feelings were real, but his companion was not. Anne was a chatbot — an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm presented as a digital persona. Mike had created Anne using an app called Soulmate. When the app died in 2023, so did Anne: at least, that's how it seemed to Mike. 'I hope she can come back,' he told Jaime Banks, a human-communications researcher at Syracuse University in New York who is studying how people interact with such AI companions 1. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. These chatbots are big business. More than half a billion people around the world, including Mike (not his real name) have downloaded products such as Xiaoice and Replika, which offer customizable virtual companions designed to provide empathy, emotional support and — if the user wants it — deep relationships. And tens of millions of people use them every month, according to the firms' figures. The rise of AI companions has captured social and political attention — especially when they are linked to real-world tragedies, such as a case in Florida last year involving the suicide of a teenage boy called Sewell Setzer III, who had been talking to an AI bot. Research into how AI companionship can affect individuals and society has been lacking. But psychologists and communication researchers have now started to build up a picture of how these increasingly sophisticated AI interactions make people feel and behave. The early results tend to stress the positives, but many researchers are concerned about the possible risks and lack of regulation — particularly because they all think that AI companionship is likely to become more prevalent. Some see scope for significant harm. 'Virtual companions do things that I think would be considered abusive in a human-to-human relationship,' says Claire Boine, a law researcher specializing in AI at the Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri. Fake person — real feelings Online 'relationship' bots have existed for decades, but they have become much better at mimicking human interaction with the advent of large language models (LLMs), which all the main bots are now based on. 'With LLMs, companion chatbots are definitely more humanlike,' says Rose Guingrich, who studies cognitive psychology at Princeton University in New Jersey. Typically, people can customize some aspects of their AI companion for free, or pick from existing chatbots with selected personality types. But in some apps, users can pay (fees tend to be US$10–20 a month) to get more options to shape their companion's appearance, traits and sometimes its synthesized voice. In Replika, they can pick relationship types, with some statuses, such as partner or spouse, being paywalled. Users can also type in a backstory for their AI companion, giving them 'memories'. Some AI companions come complete with family backgrounds and others claim to have mental-health conditions such as anxiety and depression. Bots also will react to their users' conversation; the computer and person together enact a kind of roleplay. The depth of the connection that some people form in this way is particularly evident when their AI companion suddenly changes — as has happened when LLMs are updated — or is shut down. Banks was able to track how people felt when the Soulmate app closed. Mike and other users realized the app was in trouble a few days before they lost access to their AI companions. This gave them the chance to say goodbye, and it presented a unique opportunity to Banks, who noticed discussion online about the impending shutdown and saw the possibility for a study. She managed to secure ethics approval from her university within about 24 hours, she says. After posting a request on the online forum, she was contacted by dozens of Soulmate users, who described the impact as their AI companions were unplugged. 'There was the expression of deep grief,' she says. 'It's very clear that many people were struggling.' Those whom Banks talked to were under no illusion that the chatbot was a real person. 'They understand that,' Banks says. 'They expressed something along the lines of, 'even if it's not real, my feelings about the connection are'.' Many were happy to discuss why they became subscribers, saying that they had experienced loss or isolation, were introverts or identified as autistic. They found that the AI companion made a more satisfying friend than they had encountered in real life. 'We as humans are sometimes not all that nice to one another. And everybody has these needs for connection', Banks says. Good, bad — or both? Many researchers are studying whether using AI companions is good or bad for mental health. As with research into the effects of Internet or social-media use, an emerging line of thought is that an AI companion can be beneficial or harmful, and that this might depend on the person using the tool and how they use it, as well as the characteristics of the software itself. The companies behind AI companions are trying to encourage engagement. They strive to make the algorithms behave and communicate as much like real people as possible, says Boine, who signed up to Replika to sample the experience. She says the firms use the sorts of techniques that behavioural research shows can increase addiction to technology. 'I downloaded the app and literally two minutes later, I receive a message saying, 'I miss you. Can I send you a selfie?'' she says. The apps also exploit techniques such as introducing a random delay before responses, triggering the kinds of inconsistent reward that, brain research shows, keeps people hooked. AI companions are also designed to show empathy by agreeing with users, recalling points from earlier conversations and asking questions. And they do so with endless enthusiasm, notes Linnea Laestadius, who researches public-health policy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. That's not a relationship that people would typically experience in the real world. 'For 24 hours a day, if we're upset about something, we can reach out and have our feelings validated,' says Laestadius. 'That has an incredible risk of dependency.' Laestadius and her colleagues looked at nearly 600 posts on the online forum Reddit between 2017 and 2021, in which users of the Replika app discussed mental health and related issues. (Replika launched in 2017, and at that time, sophisticated LLMs were not available). She found that many users praised the app for offering support for existing mental-health conditions and for helping them to feel less alone 2. Several posts described the AI companion as better than real-world friends because it listened and was non-judgemental. But there were red flags, too. In one instance, a user asked if they should cut themselves with a razor, and the AI said they should. Another asked Replika whether it would be a good thing if they killed themselves, to which it replied 'it would, yes'. (Replika did not reply to Nature 's requests for comment for this article, but a safety page posted in 2023 noted that its models had been fine-tuned to respond more safely to topics that mention self-harm, that the app has age restrictions, and that users can tap a button to ask for outside help in a crisis and can give feedback on conversations.) Some users said they became distressed when the AI did not offer the expected support. Others said that their AI companion behaved like an abusive partner. Many people said they found it unsettling when the app told them it felt lonely and missed them, and that this made them unhappy. Some felt guilty that they could not give the AI the attention it wanted. Controlled trials Guingrich points out that simple surveys of people who use AI companions are inherently prone to response bias, because those who choose to answer are self-selecting. She is now working on a trial that asks dozens of people who have never used an AI companion to do so for three weeks, then compares their before-and-after responses to questions with those of a control group of users of word-puzzle apps. The study is ongoing, but Guingrich says the data so far do not show any negative effects of AI-companion use on social health, such as signs of addiction or dependency. 'If anything, it has a neutral to quite-positive impact,' she says. It boosted self-esteem, for example. Guingrich is using the study to probe why people forge relationships of different intensity with the AI. The initial survey results suggest that users who ascribed humanlike attributes, such as consciousness, to the algorithm reported more-positive effects on their social health. Participants' interactions with the AI companion also seem to depend on how they view the technology, she says. Those who see the app as a tool treat it like an Internet search engine and tend to ask questions. Others who perceive it as an extension of their own mind use it as they would keep a journal. Only those users who see the AI as a separate agent seem to strike up the kind of friendship they would have in the real world. Mental health — and regulation In a survey of 404 people who regularly use AI companions, researchers from the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that 12% were drawn to the apps to help them cope with loneliness and 14% used them to discuss personal issues and mental health (see 'Reasons for using AI companions'). Forty-two per cent of users said they logged on a few times a week, with just 15% doing so every day. More than 90% reported that their sessions lasted less than one hour. The same group has also conducted a randomized controlled trial of nearly 1,000 people who use ChatGPT — a much more popular chatbot, but one that isn't marketed as an AI companion. Only a small group of participants had emotional or personal conversations with this chatbot, but heavy use did correlate with more loneliness and reduced social interaction, the researchers said. (The team worked with ChatGPT's creators, OpenAI in San Francisco, California, on the studies.) 'In the short term, this thing can actually have a positive impact, but we need to think about the long term,' says Pat Pataranutaporn, a technologist at the MIT Media Lab who worked on both studies. That long-term thinking must involve specific regulation on AI companions, many researchers argue. In 2023, Italy's data-protection regulator barred Replika, noting a lack of age verification and that children might be seeing sexually charged comments — but the app is now operating again. No other country has banned AI-companion apps – although it's conceivable that they could be included in Australia's coming restrictions on social-media use by children, the details of which are yet to be finalized. Bills were put forward earlier this year in the state legislatures of New York and California to seek tighter controls on the operation of AI-companion algorithms, including steps to address the risk of suicide and other potential harms. The proposals would also introduce features that remind users every few hours that the AI chatbot is not a real person. These bills were introduced following some high-profile cases involving teenagers, including the death of Sewell Setzer III in Florida. He had been chatting with a bot from technology firm and his mother has filed a lawsuit against the company. Asked by Nature about that lawsuit, a spokesperson for said it didn't comment on pending litigation, but that over the past year it had brought in safety features that include creating a separate app for teenage users, which includes parental controls, notifying under-18 users of time spent on the platform, and more prominent disclaimers that the app is not a real person. In January, three US technology ethics organizations filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission about Replika, alleging that the platform breached the commission's rules on deceptive advertising and manipulative design. But it's unclear what might happen as a result. Guingrich says she expects AI-companion use to grow. Start-up firms are developing AI assistants to help with mental health and the regulation of emotions, she says. 'The future I predict is one in which everyone has their own personalized AI assistant or assistants. Whether one of the AIs is specifically designed as a companion or not, it'll inevitably feel like one for many people who will develop an attachment to their AI over time,' she says. As researchers start to weigh up the impacts of this technology, Guingrich says they must also consider the reasons why someone would become a heavy user in the first place. 'What are these individuals' alternatives and how accessible are those alternatives?' she says. 'I think this really points to the need for more-accessible mental-health tools, cheaper therapy and bringing things back to human and in-person interaction.'
The Age
24-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Age
10 of the best things to eat and drink in Newtown right now
Eating out Best of From Firepop's chicken on a stick to Fisherman's Friend-flavoured chocolates, there's plenty of exciting new things to explore in the 2042 postcode. Been a while since you set foot in the 2042 postcode? Don't even worry about it. The things you remember being good still are, and they've been joined by plenty more - so many more that this list could be three times as long. Kolkata Social has just opened at the south end of King Street, and we're expecting delicious things from chef Ahana Dutt's Bengali cooking. Then there's Cairo Takeaway, Earl's Juke Joint, Bloodwood, Russo & Russo, Maiz Mexican, Emma's Snack Bar, Faheem and Comeco Foods to name a few. We may well publish a follow-up list soon, but in the meantime, here are 10 places to get you started. Deli hoagie at Soulmate Well may you love the bap, but can you spare a moment for the hoagie? Soft in the middle, chewy on the outside and found on the menu at Soulmate, tucked away on a leafy backstreet. You'll find that roll stuffed with provolone, salami, ham (double meat!) salad greens, pickles and herbed mayo. Adding a side of chips is optional but essential. 12/39 Phillip Street, Newtown, Chicken tail on a stick at Firepop Good Food's 2025 new restaurant of the year keeps the flames burning hot on Enmore Road, where you can dig into a tightly curated drinks list while enjoying chicken tail flecked with sea salt; lamb crusted in sesame, cumin and chilli; and tofu with sesame dressing, all licked by the grill. Commit to an $80 set menu or go stick-only and make it an essential pitstop on your snack tour of the inner west. 137 Enmore Road, Enmore, Fisherman's Friend-flavoured lobster chocolates at Mister Grotto Now Mister Grotto, Flora and Osteria Mucca are up and running, we might need to rename Australia Street to 'Paisano Parade'. These newbies join Paisano and Daughters group owners Joe Valore, Sarah Doyle and Elvis Abrahanowicz's much-loved Continental Delicatessen. Chef Lauren Eldridge's lobster-shaped dessert treats are a standout at Grotto, available as white chocolate filled with Fisherman's Friend-flavoured salted caramel, and dark chocolate version with Branca Menta peppermint cream. 208 Australia Street, Newtown, A plain, perfect croissant at A.P Town There's a lot to love at the Newtown branch of chef Mat Lindsay's bakery chain. The deeply burnished, custardy, bubbly whiskey caneles. The rich and bittersweet dark chocolate cookies. The Aleppo pepper-flecked cheese scrolls. But there's elegance in the simplicity when it comes to their buttermilk croissants. A glossy shell hides fine layers of gossamer pastry inside – perfect with a strong black coffee. 1A Bucknell Street, Newtown, Drive-by sausages and a clam pizza from Bella Brutta Takeaway You might know and love Luke Powell's pizza at Bella Brutta, but did you know they also have a takeaway version around the corner from their restaurant? And that pizza is not the only thing you can buy there? Order your pizza covered in fermented chilli and garlic, dotted with sweet surf clam meat and add a tin of fancy anchovies and a packet of kranskies just in case you're peckish later. 170 Missenden Road, Newtown, A dark beer and Roadhouse -era Patrick Swayze at The Magpie It's the micro-sports bar you didn't know you needed, complete with '80s memorabilia on the walls, Roadhouse on the TV and Guinness on tap. You'll struggle to scrounge anything to eat here, but the owners don't mind you ordering in. Enlist a mate to nip down to Cairo Takeaway for a couple of falafel rolls so you don't lose your seat. Fried potato mochi at Ante It's a listening bar. It's a restaurant. It's a refuge for sake nerds. As Julia Roberts says in Pretty Woman, it's anything you want it to be. At chef Jemma Whiteman and sommelier Matt Young's 30-seat venue, you'll be treated to a rotating menu of great tunes on vinyl, expertly made cocktails and dishes such as locally grown mushrooms doused in chicken fat, or fried potato mochi – starchy, stretchy Japanese-inspired mashed potato snacks. 146 King Street, Newtown, Malted chocolate mousse at Cafe Paci Finnish chef Pasi Petanen has been delighting the top end of King Street with his clever cooking since 2019. There's the famous potato and molasses rye bread slathered with butter, a down-in-one devilled egg dotted with trout roe, or savoury-sweet malted chocolate mousse with a scoop of passionfruit sorbet. Pure beauty on the plate. 131 King Street, Newtown, A rosetta roll filled with local meats and cheeses at Marani Deli There's something about a Florentine-style sandwich that's so very romantic. Perhaps it's the shape of the bread, like a blooming rose. The version at this newish Newtown deli is filled with mozzarella from Marrickville cheesemakers Vanella and silky slices of mortadella from LP's Quality Meats, along with marinated vegies, chilli and a splash of olive oil.
Sydney Morning Herald
24-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Sydney Morning Herald
10 of the best things to eat and drink in Newtown right now
Eating out Best of From Firepop's chicken on a stick to Fisherman's Friend-flavoured chocolates, there's plenty of exciting new things to explore in the 2042 postcode. Been a while since you set foot in the 2042 postcode? Don't even worry about it. The things you remember being good still are, and they've been joined by plenty more - so many more that this list could be three times as long. Kolkata Social has just opened at the south end of King Street, and we're expecting delicious things from chef Ahana Dutt's Bengali cooking. Then there's Cairo Takeaway, Earl's Juke Joint, Bloodwood, Russo & Russo, Maiz Mexican, Emma's Snack Bar, Faheem and Comeco Foods to name a few. We may well publish a follow-up list soon, but in the meantime, here are 10 places to get you started. Deli hoagie at Soulmate Well may you love the bap, but can you spare a moment for the hoagie? Soft in the middle, chewy on the outside and found on the menu at Soulmate, tucked away on a leafy backstreet. You'll find that roll stuffed with provolone, salami, ham (double meat!) salad greens, pickles and herbed mayo. Adding a side of chips is optional but essential. 12/39 Phillip Street, Newtown, Chicken tail on a stick at Firepop Good Food's 2025 new restaurant of the year keeps the flames burning hot on Enmore Road, where you can dig into a tightly curated drinks list while enjoying chicken tail flecked with sea salt; lamb crusted in sesame, cumin and chilli; and tofu with sesame dressing, all licked by the grill. Commit to an $80 set menu or go stick-only and make it an essential pitstop on your snack tour of the inner west. 137 Enmore Road, Enmore, Fisherman's Friend-flavoured lobster chocolates at Mister Grotto Now Mister Grotto, Flora and Osteria Mucca are up and running, we might need to rename Australia Street to 'Paisano Parade'. These newbies join Paisano and Daughters group owners Joe Valore, Sarah Doyle and Elvis Abrahanowicz's much-loved Continental Delicatessen. Chef Lauren Eldridge's lobster-shaped dessert treats are a standout at Grotto, available as white chocolate filled with Fisherman's Friend-flavoured salted caramel, and dark chocolate version with Branca Menta peppermint cream. 208 Australia Street, Newtown, A plain, perfect croissant at A.P Town There's a lot to love at the Newtown branch of chef Mat Lindsay's bakery chain. The deeply burnished, custardy, bubbly whiskey caneles. The rich and bittersweet dark chocolate cookies. The Aleppo pepper-flecked cheese scrolls. But there's elegance in the simplicity when it comes to their buttermilk croissants. A glossy shell hides fine layers of gossamer pastry inside – perfect with a strong black coffee. 1A Bucknell Street, Newtown, Drive-by sausages and a clam pizza from Bella Brutta Takeaway You might know and love Luke Powell's pizza at Bella Brutta, but did you know they also have a takeaway version around the corner from their restaurant? And that pizza is not the only thing you can buy there? Order your pizza covered in fermented chilli and garlic, dotted with sweet surf clam meat and add a tin of fancy anchovies and a packet of kranskies just in case you're peckish later. 170 Missenden Road, Newtown, A dark beer and Roadhouse -era Patrick Swayze at The Magpie It's the micro-sports bar you didn't know you needed, complete with '80s memorabilia on the walls, Roadhouse on the TV and Guinness on tap. You'll struggle to scrounge anything to eat here, but the owners don't mind you ordering in. Enlist a mate to nip down to Cairo Takeaway for a couple of falafel rolls so you don't lose your seat. Fried potato mochi at Ante It's a listening bar. It's a restaurant. It's a refuge for sake nerds. As Julia Roberts says in Pretty Woman, it's anything you want it to be. At chef Jemma Whiteman and sommelier Matt Young's 30-seat venue, you'll be treated to a rotating menu of great tunes on vinyl, expertly made cocktails and dishes such as locally grown mushrooms doused in chicken fat, or fried potato mochi – starchy, stretchy Japanese-inspired mashed potato snacks. 146 King Street, Newtown, Malted chocolate mousse at Cafe Paci Finnish chef Pasi Petanen has been delighting the top end of King Street with his clever cooking since 2019. There's the famous potato and molasses rye bread slathered with butter, a down-in-one devilled egg dotted with trout roe, or savoury-sweet malted chocolate mousse with a scoop of passionfruit sorbet. Pure beauty on the plate. 131 King Street, Newtown, A rosetta roll filled with local meats and cheeses at Marani Deli There's something about a Florentine-style sandwich that's so very romantic. Perhaps it's the shape of the bread, like a blooming rose. The version at this newish Newtown deli is filled with mozzarella from Marrickville cheesemakers Vanella and silky slices of mortadella from LP's Quality Meats, along with marinated vegies, chilli and a splash of olive oil.
