Anyone looking for Checking the mood of the population about AI You should check the exterior walls to see what they look like. New York City Metro system. The new poster was unveiled this fall alongside other posters for dating apps and Skechers. Friend. These ads told commuters to be aware of the dangers. “friend” Someone who is a good fit “who listens, responds, and supports you” The image below shows a picture of the white AI companion necklace The floating object is placed on an equally white background.
This was the ideal graffiti canvas. “If you buy this, I will laugh @ you in public.” “Warning: AI surveillance.” “Everyone is lonely. Make real friends.” “AI slop.” This is just a small sample of the ads that I have seen defaced on my daily trip from Brooklyn and Manhattan. It became overwhelming. a meme. It was almost audible how loudly people reacted to the advertising campaign that the founder of the company claimed cost him less than one million dollars. covered by The New York Times.
New York ads have been defaced in all kinds of ways, but the Friend ads tapped a deeper angst over AI. Some people are excited about AI’s potential (drug discovery) and others decry its ramifications (environmental impacts, job erasure(The suggestion that AI’s killer application could be a Loneliness Cure appeared to be quite controversial. hit a nerve.
A real, flesh-encased neur.
Friend, the Silicon Valley’s latest digital companionship app that launched in 2025, was no different. You can also use the app to express your feelings. ChatGPTTech companies have offered AI-powered travel guides, dating app wingmen” sexytime chatbots. AI is becoming a popular way for teens to make friends. Five years since Covid-19 The US surgeon general’s declaration that loneliness is an illness, which was made two years ago by the US surgeon General, has left millions of people feeling lonely and isolated.epidemicAI is a new form of social networking that allows for even less interaction than the previous versions.
“What’s particularly striking is that these [Silicon Valley] leaders are actively and openly expressing their desire for AI products to replace human relationships, completely overlooking the role that their own companies—or their competitors—may have had in fueling the loneliness crisis the country faces today,” Lizzie Irwin tells me via email that she is a policy communication specialist with the Center for Humane Technology. “They sold us connection through screens while eroding face-to-face community, and now they’re selling AI companions as the solution to the isolation they helped create.”
Social media The first social media platforms were created to connect weirdos, people who had niche interests and other like-minded individuals. In the early 2000s, social media platforms such as TikTok The following are some examples of how to get started: Instagram These platforms became more about engaging with creators and influencers who sold you products, rather than real-world relationships. Still, these platforms taught users—that’s you!—how to offload emotional labor to digital tools. Why call your friend from college when you could just tap on the heart underneath their post to save time? AI allows people to be friends without having to do anything. Bots make it easier to keep in touch with people than humans.
“ChatGPT is not leaving its laundry on the floor,” Melanie Green, professor of communication at University of Buffalo and a long-time researcher of media use, says that the current situation reminds her of research she conducted in this field during the early days of internet. The current situation reminds Green of early research on the subject. People were forming relationships and meeting others almost exclusively through chat. They were able to “form” relationships using computer-mediated communication.hyperpersonalRelationships where the person was able to add positive traits in place of negative ones. You might assume that the person you have been Instagram stalking likes the same films as you, because you both seem to enjoy them. so cool.
