There’s an interview from David Pierce at The Verge with Friend founder Avi Schiffmann. Friend is an AI device companion that is trying to make you less lonely, not solve any productivity problems.
Here are my random initial thoughts about it.
It’s too easy to dismiss these kind of things as dystopian, terrible, the end of human relationships. But we’re already staring at our screens for many, many hours each day. We’re already kind of screwed, way too isolated.
We need more human contact. Young people especially were cut off during the pandemic and now spend too much time with algorithmic, infinitely-scrolling social timelines. AI should not replace humans, but something like a personal assistant or companion is inevitable. It might even be more healthy than TikTok addiction.
I’m reading the book The Mountain in the Sea and there’s a scene in it that reminds me a lot of this. On the technical side, I think the device is a little too big, which will hurt its chance of actually feeling pervasive.
From the FAQ:
Your friend and their memories are attached to the physical device. If you lose or damage your friend there is no recovery plan.
So if the device breaks, your friend “dies”. This sounds like an intentional design decision. It’s similar to when getting emotionally attached to a video game character who dies and can’t come back, like in Fire Emblem.
I’m not going to pre-order one of these, but I am interested in following how these devices evolve, and what they say about society. The very end of the video trailer for Friend sort of makes its own statement about this. To me that shows some awareness from the creators on what the limits of their device should be.
