Need a companion? Therapist? Romance? Some are turning to AI friends

New York Times technology columnist and podcast host Kevin Roose recently wrote about a few of his friends: Peter, a therapist who lives in San Francisco; Ariana, who specializes in career advice; Naomi, a social worker named; and Jared, a fitness guru. He writes that he talks to them constantly, chit-chatting about the weather and sharing jokes. They even have a group chat.

Nothing unusual, except the friends are AI creations, made by inputting information into various apps. He named them, gave them physical attributes, and then provided a backstory and information about his life. And the more he interacted, the more they learned. But that didn’t stop them from going off the rails every now and then.

Roose’s article about his AI experiment is titled “Meet My AI Friends.” It’s also the subject of a segment on his podcast “Hard Fork.”

Roose joins host Scott Tong to talk about the pros and cons of AI friends and the future of the technology.