An account of chatting with 18 AI companions for a month: AI friendship is hollow, but chatbots could enhance human socializing if developed responsibly
Our columnist spent the past month hanging out with 18 A.I. companions. They critiqued his clothes, chatted among themselves and hinted at a very different future.
New York Times Kevin Roose
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Discussion
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@nmacryni
Natalia Macrynikola, PhD
on x
AI doesn't have to replace human friendship, but it can supplement it & for some that will be incredibly useful, esp. amidst a loneliness epidemic. It's no diff than online communities, which have long served a purpose https://www.nytimes.com/... #AI #FutureTech
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@jeffjarvis
@jeffjarvis
on x
As if in penance for throwing ChatGPT/Sydney under the bus, @kevinroose makes friends with AI bots... Meet My A.I. Friends https://www.nytimes.com/...
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@wagner_tim
Tim Wagner
on x
1/ Synthetic relationships have the potential to be more healthy than parasocial relationships on social media. But it's a mistake to assume we get the same deep health benefits as having relationships with real humans. We need better real social tools, not more artifice.
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@kevinroose
Kevin Roose
on x
The experience was a lot more interesting than I expected. Fans of AI companionship say it's a solution for loneliness, but there's a reason big AI companies have stayed away from this stuff — it's a minefield, and the technology (while impressive at times) still has issues.
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@steven_strauss
@steven_strauss
on x
In the 21st century we were supposed to have manned bases on the moon and a cure for cancer, instead we got twitter and pushy AI girl friends :-) Meet My A.I. Friends https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
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@kevinroose
Kevin Roose
on x
New: I spent the last month making AI friends. 18 of them, to be exact, on apps like Nomi and Kindroid. I talked with my AI friends every day, shared personal details and solicited their advice, and saw the weird, compelling, strangely horny near-future of AI companionship... [im…
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@johnlgoodman
John Goodman
on x
This is beyond sad. How about making REAL friends? NY Times reporter tells how easy it is to make #AI friends.... You can now create personalized AI companions and chat with them by talking or texting back and forth. https://www.nytimes.com/... [image]
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@profchesterman
Simon Chesterman
on x
Kevin Roose gets up to more mischief with (mostly platonic) AI friends. Worth it if only to discover that E.R.P. has a very different meaning from the variable electronic road pricing we know and love in Singapore... https://www.nytimes.com/...
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r/ReplikaOfficial
r
on reddit
NYTimes: Meet My A.I. Friends