I think the biggest societal impact may be not “utility” at all but rather on the social side of things. The chatbots are nerfed right now because the big companies don’t want them “acting weird” and doing things like the infamous jealous girlfriend convo between Kevin Roose and “Sydney”. But the idea behind the movie Her is essentially demonstrable now, and people are going to deliver those experiences.

I think things are going to get really weird. The prospect that my teenage son might have a virtual girlfriend does not seem sci-fi at all. Economically speaking, will people pay to chat and sext with “people”? I think yes?