“Already, one of the main things we see people using Meta AI for is talking through difficult conversations that they need to have with people in their lives,” he said before listing off examples like navigating romantic entanglements or work dilemmas. I’m admittedly a bit of a techno-pessimist, but I, too, understand that AI can be helpful in providing prompts for those sticky situations. Still, the pessimist in me goes into overdrive when asking AI for advice to help maneuver an IRL relationship is conflated with that AI bot being your bud.
It’s true that people, and especially young men, have been increasingly shielded from social growth through online anonymity and have been siloed and heavily influenced by algorithmic content. But slapping “friend” onto an AI chatbot is disingenuous at best and villainous at worst. And Zuck’s charade of caring about the state of our friendships is laughable. Meta wants us chatting with AI bots all day for one reason: more data to $ell! Just imagine how much intel Meta can gather when you’re divulging all of your feelings to it like you would a close friend? People already overshare on Instagram and Facebook, but there’s still the pretense of it being a public social platform. Complaining about your boyfriend to AI chatbot friend #9? Don’t be surprised when ads for dating apps pop up in your feed moments later! Catching up with AI chatbot friend #11 while it clocks household clutter in your background? Have you ever visited The Container Store? They’re having a sale!
If Zuck actually cared about the progressively worrisome state of social isolation so many Americans find themselves in, then maybe he ought to not throw his support behind an administration that’s decimating youth mental health funding and slashing access to public spaces (where friends can gather) like libraries and museums. But he doesn’t so…he doesn’t. It’s almost like Zuck himself is a bad friend—just a stray thought I have about a man whose initial iteration of his product ranked his classmates’ hotness levels.
So let me reach through the screen and hold your hand while I, a non-billionaire who is not out for your data and who thinks you’re a 10/10 hottie, say this: “AI like, say, a chainsaw, is a tool. Tools can be very helpful, but they are not your friends. Chainsaws nor AI will never experience the joyful warmth of your presence in their life, appreciate the way your laugh brightens up a room, or how endearing it is that you send 9-month-old memes to the group chat.” To quote Karen O in “Maps”: “They don’t love you like I”—an actual living, breathing, human could—”love you.”
Like what you just read? You’ve got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.
