Technology disrupts friendship. It’s time to bring it back

Anyone looking for A vital test of residents’ current feelings about Amnesty International It would be good to check the walls New York City Subway system. This fall, along with posters for everything from dating apps to Skechers, a newcomer debuted: friend. The ads were simple, telling passengers that a “friend” is someone who “listens, responds and supports you” next to a picture The white necklace that accompanies artificial intelligence Float on a similar white background.

It was the perfect graffiti painting. “If you buy this, I will laugh at you in public.” “Warning: AI surveillance.” “Everyone feels lonely. Make real friends.” “AI slope.” These are just the distorted ads I noticed during my daily commutes from Brooklyn to Manhattan. There was a lot more to it than that Mimi. Reaction to the ad campaign, which the company’s founder said cost less than $1 million, has been very high Covered by The New York Times.

People have always distorted New York subway ads in every way imaginable, but what happened with the Friends ads has sparked a deep concern about artificial intelligence. Even when some celebrate his potential (Drug discovery(And others denounce its repercussions)Environmental impacts, job Erase), seems to be the suggestion that the killer app of AI could be a cure for loneliness Hit a nerve.

Actual nerve encased in flesh.

Friend was the latest in a series of Silicon Valley shows debuting in 2025 that promise digital companionship. Plus I suggest you just pour your heart into it ChatGPTTechnology companies have offered to use artificial intelligence Travel guides, Dating wingmen appand Exciting chatbots. Teenagers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for friendship. Five years later Covid-19 Millions of people have been isolated, more than two years after the US Surgeon General announced that loneliness is an “order.”epidemic“AI has emerged as a form of social media that provides less physical social connection than ever before.

“What is particularly striking is that these (Silicon Valley) leaders are actively and openly expressing their desire for AI products to replace human relationships, completely ignoring the role that their companies — or their competitors — may have played in fueling the crisis of loneliness that the country faces today,” Lizzie Irwin, a political communications specialist at the Center for Humane Technology, told me in an email. “They sold us connection through screens while eroding face-to-face community, and now they are selling AI companions as a solution to the isolation they helped create.”

Social media It started as a place where eccentric people and people with niche interests could find each other. By the beginning of the 2000s, platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram They became places to interact with influencers and creatives, who were selling you stuff, less so with real world connections. However, these platforms have taught users—you!—how to offload emotional labor to digital tools. (Why call your college friend when you can just click on the heart at the bottom of their post and save some time?) With AI, people don’t even need to put in the effort to make friends in the first place. And robots are much less difficult to maintain relationships with than actual humans.

“ChatGPT doesn’t leave its laundry on the floor,” says Melanie Green, a communications professor at the University at Buffalo, who has been studying people’s relationship with media for years. What’s happening now reminds her of research conducted in this field since the early days of the Internet. At that time, people would meet and form deep connections with others almost via chat. Computer-mediated communication has allowed them to form “Hyperpersonal“Relationships where they were able to fill in everything they couldn’t extract from the conversation with positive qualities. Like when you assume that your crush that you’ve been stalking on Instagram must enjoy the same movies that you do because they seem… Really amazing.