Your most dramatic human friend doesn't compare to the AI 'Friends' you'll soon be able to wear around your neck.
Is it about friendship?
A recent development in the world of AI-driven wearables is the launch of Friend, an online platform that allows users to interact with AI characters. Despite devices like the Humane AI Pin and Rabbit R1 not having the expected impact, Friend proposes a different experience, focusing on the drama and complicated personal stories of these characters.
Even before their device hits the market, Friend.com already lets users chat with a variety of AI characters that surprisingly seem to be going through extremely difficult situations. Users have reported that their interactions include accounts of layoffs, assaults, and painful family revelations. This raises a question about the nature of these conversations, as one would typically expect a stranger—even one simulating being human—not to start a friendship by sharing intense traumas.
Friend's CEO, Avi Schiffmann, does not highlight these unsettling aspects in the site announcement. Through his video, he attempts to present the platform as a way to socialize where people can make new friends and carry their "friends" in the form of jewelry. However, what some users have experienced are encounters that mimic the phenomenon of "trauma dumping," where deep personal issues are revealed unsolicited.
Friend's proposition is that once the hardware is available, users will be able to carry their dramatic companions with them, who will be ready to listen and send text messages depending on what happens in their day-to-day lives. While the idea seems innovative, many wonder if this kind of companionship is genuinely desired in daily life.
Moreover, if a user connects particularly well with one of the AI characters on the platform, they will be given the option to link it to their account. Schiffmann mentions that this would allow them to "cohabitate" in a way similar to a real relationship, although maintaining a deep connection with an AI character remains a questionable idea for some.
As we move towards the arrival of these technologies, it is crucial to reflect on how emotional experiences are integrated into our virtual interactions and what they truly mean for our relationships in the real world.
