Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment.

An upcoming device simply called “friend” is now being advertised. Per the product description, the “friend” is a Bluetooth disk that hangs around a person’s neck and “listens” to the user. It then has the capacity to make conversation by “texting” you at random times of the day, like a human friend might do.

The website includes a “frequently asked questions” portion, which is where you can discover what the product is and what it can do. Here’s a bizarre response to the question: “what does ‘always listening’ mean”:

When connected via bluetooth, your friend is always listening and forming their own internal thoughts. We have given your friend free will for when they decide to reach out to you.

Friend

Wow. What’s that? The designers have given the device free will? A little creepy, guys, and also totally misleading. The creators of the “friend” seem to think that free will is a programmable attribute; it just takes the appropriate lines of code and there you have it. Also, saying the device has internal thoughts is another example of wild anthropomorphizing.

The product trailer dropped earlier today on X, showing a runner, a gamer, a fast-food worker, and a girl chatting with a guy, all wearing the friend device. The part with the girl and guy is intriguing; they’re clearly on a date, but during a moment of silence, she reaches to press the device to get it to text her, but then hesitates, laughs, and looks at the boy instead. “She goes everywhere with you, right?” the boy asks. “Yep!” she replies. I’m not sure if this implies that the device is just intended to be used until the user finds actual connection, but that doesn’t square with the earlier scene of the gamer, who is depicted in a living room surrounded by his buddies. For the gamer, the AI friend is an addition to his actual network of companions.

The site additionally includes a blog tab, and right now, the latest post is from July 30th honoring International Friendship Day. The company’s founder, Avi Schiffman, wrote the following:

friend is an expression of how lonely I’ve felt.

I want to thank all the incredible artists and engineers who have helped me bring this work to life over the past year. You have truly given me a deeper appreciation for the art I see in everyday objects.

We can’t wait to hear how friend fits into your life. Thanks for checking us out.

I found this little blog post incredibly tragic and yet poignant in its transparency. Avi isn’t the only one feeling the weight of loneliness in the modern world. Millions of others in America and beyond are living isolated lives and can never boast of more than a couple of close friends, if that. What’s fascinating about the “friend” device is that it seems designed (internal thoughts, free will, etc) to actually resemble a human being. So supposing, then, that we should be relating and connecting to real human beings, who truly do have internal thoughts, free will, and the capacity to build trust, care, and attachments with other persons?

That the founder of this new company was so honest about his loneliness is admirable, and rare. The cry for connection and relationship is becoming ever louder. I just don’t believe a necklace that texts you every so often is actually going to meet that deep need for friendship. People need real friends who can talk with them face to face, hug them, get coffee, go for walks. For all its mimicry and sophistication, AI “friends” can only resemble human communication. They can never become it.