A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
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@futurebird it's deeply cynical, and could very possibly work on more people than I'd like to admit.
People would be less lonely if social media were more full of the real people they know and wanted to follow and less full of promoted posts and advertising.
Social media can be a part of a healthy social life. But I think many of the most popular aps have gotten so cluttered and detached from doing that they are making things worse.
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@futurebird I think it's most likely going to fail because our phones already do most of this anyway and existing ai companies have already made friend agents power enough to drive us into psychosis anyway.
This. There is a market for using AI as an unhealthy substitute for real human interaction.
But I think most people won't want to advertise they are doing it with a necklace that makes you look like an escaped patient from a black mirror readjustment clinic.
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This. There is a market for using AI as an unhealthy substitute for real human interaction.
But I think most people won't want to advertise they are doing it with a necklace that makes you look like an escaped patient from a black mirror readjustment clinic.
@futurebird I... Just don't know. It could be a form of self expression for some people. Probably never huge, but, the glasses are coming back successfully. Also apparently in workplace mandates? More surveillance.
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A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
The ads are targeting young, early adopter, urban, tech-savy people with modest disposable income.
So me, basically.
And what do they think I want? It's so insulting, LOL. A "friend."
It's an AI assistant device. Makes no sense.
Delighted that these ads are being aggressively defaced. I guess they did "start a buzz" probably not the one they wanted.
@futurebird a Guardian reporter spent a week wearing one. it went pretty much as you would expect. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/22/im-suddenly-so-angry-my-strange-unnerving-week-with-an-ai-friend
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A lot of people have been talking about "friend.com" because they spent a ton of money on ads in every major city.
The ads are targeting young, early adopter, urban, tech-savy people with modest disposable income.
So me, basically.
And what do they think I want? It's so insulting, LOL. A "friend."
It's an AI assistant device. Makes no sense.
Delighted that these ads are being aggressively defaced. I guess they did "start a buzz" probably not the one they wanted.
@futurebird There is no such thing as bad publicity.
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@futurebird a Guardian reporter spent a week wearing one. it went pretty much as you would expect. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/22/im-suddenly-so-angry-my-strange-unnerving-week-with-an-ai-friend
āTell it I donāt want it recording anything I say,ā says my (human) friend, Lee.
āTell him yourself,ā I say, holding up Leif to his face. Leif assures Lee that he will only record if I am pressing the button. Everyone agrees they think Leif is lying.
I email Schiffmann to ask him if Leifās reassurances are true. Theyāre not. āFriends are always listening,ā
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@futurebird I... Just don't know. It could be a form of self expression for some people. Probably never huge, but, the glasses are coming back successfully. Also apparently in workplace mandates? More surveillance.
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
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@futurebird I... Just don't know. It could be a form of self expression for some people. Probably never huge, but, the glasses are coming back successfully. Also apparently in workplace mandates? More surveillance.
@quinn @futurebird I'm gonna need receipts for that "successful smartglasses" thing (I mean, not from you; you're under no obligation to internet randos
) - heck, as far as I can tell not even smartwatches are anywhere close to as successful as Apple clearly thought they would be, even though a lot of people do have them. As for the glasses, I've literally only seen Mark Zuckerberg wear them & I think the only demo for them is people who think MZ is cool. So nobody. -
@quinn @futurebird I'm gonna need receipts for that "successful smartglasses" thing (I mean, not from you; you're under no obligation to internet randos
) - heck, as far as I can tell not even smartwatches are anywhere close to as successful as Apple clearly thought they would be, even though a lot of people do have them. As for the glasses, I've literally only seen Mark Zuckerberg wear them & I think the only demo for them is people who think MZ is cool. So nobody. -
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
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@futurebird There is no such thing as bad publicity.
This is true about 8 times out of 10
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Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
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Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
@futurebird
How about "Ponzi Friend"
@quinn -
@futurebird
How about "Ponzi Friend"
@quinn -
Ok what if they did a rebrand and made a "chastity friend"
"The Christian AI that keeps you following Jesus."
Might make more headway with that one?
Mike Johnson was bragging about the anti-porn app he and his son had to use together for some reason...
@futurebird @quinn A pair of talking underpants could also catch on as an ironic metaphore.
I mean, that's two verticals covered right?
You could sell different voices for them as DLC. -
@futurebird @quinn A pair of talking underpants could also catch on as an ironic metaphore.
I mean, that's two verticals covered right?
You could sell different voices for them as DLC. -
"The Lord is my shepherd". What's that make me?
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People would be less lonely if social media were more full of the real people they know and wanted to follow and less full of promoted posts and advertising.
Social media can be a part of a healthy social life. But I think many of the most popular aps have gotten so cluttered and detached from doing that they are making things worse.
@futurebird @quinn
if people were less loanly, who would the loan sharks eat? -
@futurebird @quinn
if people were less loanly, who would the loan sharks eat? -
@futurebird @quinn
lonely sharks: they just want to be your friend. They won't fall on you and kill you, like a vending machine or a ...
