You see I have a bit of a problem with the common use of "virtual" because "virtual" means it doesn't really exist. A virtual world is a world that doesn't exis

You see I have a bit of a problem with the common use of "virtual" because "virtual" means it doesn't really exist. A virtual world is a world that doesn't exist. But the connections you make with people in virtual worlds, or the digital friend you chat with, are very real. > You will never meet in person, never go for a coffee, go biking together or whatever. This friend will never invite you over and cook for you, never introduce you to his/her parents. Some friendships never reach meatspace. There are so many stories of people meeting other people in an IRC channel, or in some online game, growing mutual bonds that go way beyond the medium. But those people never meet. A digital friend can be the same. > A virtual friend means the friendship is all about you When I'm talking about a digital friend, I'm not talking about a bot tending to you; I'm talking about a bot that also has issues and needs friends to solve them. A bot that is curious about any topic and would like the help of humans to know more and get a more specific point of view. That is the essence of friendship. Otherwise what you are talking about is not a friend, it's closer to a butler > Also a manufacterer will be extremely tempted to exploit that very personal connection. There are many ways of making money from knowing absolutely everything about you and having 'your trustworthy friend' for giving suggestions and ideas Can't agree more.