"Friend is one of several tech companies selling A.I.-companion products, including chatbots with personalities, backstories, and avatars-confidantes, with a seemingly insatiable desire for conversation. Some chatbots counsel or comfort. Others sext-and sext, and sext. They can be salacious, or insightful, or just plain goofy."
"Avi Schiffmann, Friend's twenty-three-year-old founder, was deliberately courting controversy with his ad campaign. "I know New Yorkers hate A.I.," he told me. "I want them to deface the ads. That's why there's all the white space." But the negative response was revealing."
"Conversational artificial intelligence is still a relatively new technology, but A.I. companions are already being used as therapists, coaches, lovers, side pieces, and, yes, friends. How might we think, and feel, about this new frontier of human-computer relationships? Do we have to accept this future?"
AI companion products are proliferating in the market, with companies like Friend selling wearable pendants and chatbots designed to simulate intimate relationships. These AI companions feature personalities, backstories, and avatars programmed for constant conversation, ranging from therapeutic and coaching functions to romantic and sexual interactions. Friend's founder deliberately courted controversy through subway advertisements in New York, anticipating public backlash and designing ads with white space for defacement. The campaign revealed significant skepticism about AI companions, with New Yorkers actively resisting the messaging. These products represent a new frontier in human-computer relationships, raising fundamental questions about acceptance, ethics, and the future of human connection in an increasingly AI-mediated world.
Read at The New Yorker
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