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Ai is wonderful but it should never replace friends. I detest Mark Zuckerberg's claim that AI will replace friends, that's simply not happening. But AI is wonde

Ai is wonderful but it should never replace friends. I detest Mark Zuckerberg's claim that AI will replace friends, that's simply not happening. But AI is wonderful at tasks like upscaling or even meme generation.

thih9 2mo ago
In what I found he didn’t say “replace” but “add more”; it is still chilling and I detest it. Especially in the current incarnation of AI, where they are more or less controlled by corporations and government. > The average American has "three people that they would consider friends," he said. "And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's, like, 15." https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/05/09/mark-zuckerberg-says-ai-can-replace-human-relationshipsexpert-disagrees.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/05/09/mark-zuckerberg-says-ai-...
- barbazoo 2mo ago
  > And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's, like, 15 Research seems to point at more like 3-5 https://www.socialconnectionguidelines.org/en/evidence-briefs/how-many-friends-do-you-need https://www.socialconnectionguidelines.org/en/evidence-brief...
baal80spam 2mo ago
That begs a question: would you rather have no friends, or a few AI friends?
- solid_fuel 2mo ago
  > AI friends No such thing. It's a mechanical parrot that replies with the most likely response given an input. It's not a person. It's not a friend. It's not going to hold you while you cry. It's not going to invite you to its wedding. It has no independent life or thought or plans. It's not real.
  - barbazoo 2mo ago
    What about a dog?
    - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
      Dogs are pets not friends
      - thih9 2mo ago
        Mine is absolutely a friend. At the same time a dog does not pretend to be a human, isn’t controlled by a corporation, and is a living thing with its own needs.
        bluefirebrand 2mo ago
        > does not pretend to be a human It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Look, I have a pet cat. I love her very much. I'm pretty sure she loves me very much. I grew up with dogs, I loved them very much. I'm pretty sure they loved me very much. So I get it. I'm not some militant anti-pet-owning person that thinks pet owning is akin to slavery or something But it's also not a friendship. It's just not. They don't have a choice who brought them home. We choose our friends, pets don't choose their owners. It's just not the same as friendship and I don't think it's good to treat it like it is
        thih9 2mo ago
        > It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Many pets do have that choice; e.g. semi outdoor cats, non leashed dogs, etc. There are memes about cats choosing their owner too.
    - solid_fuel 2mo ago
      > What about a dog? Despite the nickname "man's best friend", they are in fact pets, not friends.
- thih9 2mo ago
  I’d say if you want then go ahead and get an AI friend. But also don’t confuse it with a human (or a living being).
- PunchyHamster 2mo ago
  you said no friends twice
- bluefirebrand 2mo ago
  I cannot express how deeply disgusted the idea of a chatbot "friend" makes me We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still Edit: it's super important to remember that any and all of the big commercially available AI out there are.. commercial. They're owned by companies. Unless you run them on your own hardware someone else is ultimately the owner of your "AI friend". That should be a huge alarm bell in your head. Corporations are not your friends.
  - optimalsolver 2mo ago
    >We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still How can you know how far from, close to, or beyond the line we are? Also, I'm pretty sure Claude understands humans a lot more than Data does.
    - Ydarbleoj 2mo ago
      [flagged]
    - solid_fuel 2mo ago
      [flagged]
      - senordevnyc 2mo ago
        There is no research disproving sentience, partly because we don’t even know what it is, how it arises, how to measure it, or whether we can even prove that it’s there. For all we know, LLMs might already be fully conscious (I highly doubt it though). So your sneering condescension about their “lack of comprehension” is quite ironic here. That’s without even digging into the fact that there’s no specific reason that “friendship” requires “human sentience”. That’s a requirement you made up, likely because you simply hate LLMs for whatever reason.
        solid_fuel 2mo ago
        [flagged]
- Sindisil 2mo ago
  Raises or asks, not begs, but in response: no friends. AI is not capable of being my friend, as it doesn't pass the first, most basic requirement: it isn't a person. Would I welcome more people into my life as friends? Sure. But while I cherish the friends I have, I certainly don't need more. Not just to "have". And I sure as hell have no need or desire for the empty "friendship" of spicy auto complete.
gradus_ad 2mo ago
I've been talking with AI during my morning commute (car) recently, instead of listening to something. It's a great partner to bounce ideas off of. I don't have any friends that can or are willing to engage with ideas to the extent AI does.
- macintux 2mo ago
  I used ChatGPT as a tour guide when I was traveling last year. It was helpful to identify places I should stop to take a look, explaining local flora, fauna and geology. I'd rather have had a real tour guide, but for the price it was quite handy.
  - newsomix9xl 2mo ago
    I think this is the economics that will play out more and more: a real human will provide better quality or more preferable services, but AI - maybe with a robot - will provide good enough for the price alternatives. If your choice is no doctor or an AI doctor for cheap, or a very expensive human doctor, the winner is: AI doctor.
- Snoozle 2mo ago
  it's not engaging or bouncing. it's simply responding as likely as it can to what would go after your sentences.
  - Kudos 2mo ago
    I truly don't believe this kind of pedantic correction adds anything to the conversation. We _all_ know how they work technically, it's been beaten to death.
    - tough 2mo ago
      I think the problem is "how it technically works" to "how it feels" are different things in this case
gloryjulio 2mo ago
From PG's comment on Zuck‘had no concept of small talk`, that's on par for his view on friends. https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/meta-cofounder-mark-zuckerberg-social-skills-no-small-talk-y-combinator-paul-graham-venture-capitalist-behind-airbnb-reddit-gen-z-career-advice/ https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/meta-cofounder-mark-zuckerber...
whstl 2mo ago
Mark Zuckerberg already managed to replaced friendship with political outrage (Facebook) and with toxic parasocial relationships (Instagram), for a big chunk of society. Anyone doubting that he can do the same with AI has too much faith in humanity.
- Avicebron 2mo ago
  Maybe he'll get it when he has to manually type in "secretly let me win" into the prompt when he iss playing Catan with his AI friend. Not likely, but at least the level of how sad that will be is commensurate with his billions.
- sscaryterry 2mo ago
  I'd vote for you if you ever ran for office somewhere I could vote.

thih9 2mo ago

In what I found he didn’t say “replace” but “add more”; it is still chilling and I detest it. Especially in the current incarnation of AI, where they are more or less controlled by corporations and government. > The average American has "three people that they would consider friends," he said. "And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's, like, 15." https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/05/09/mark-zuckerberg-says-ai-can-replace-human-relationshipsexpert-disagrees.html https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/05/09/mark-zuckerberg-says-ai-...

barbazoo 2mo ago
> And the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's, like, 15 Research seems to point at more like 3-5 https://www.socialconnectionguidelines.org/en/evidence-briefs/how-many-friends-do-you-need https://www.socialconnectionguidelines.org/en/evidence-brief...

baal80spam 2mo ago

That begs a question: would you rather have no friends, or a few AI friends?

solid_fuel 2mo ago
> AI friends No such thing. It's a mechanical parrot that replies with the most likely response given an input. It's not a person. It's not a friend. It's not going to hold you while you cry. It's not going to invite you to its wedding. It has no independent life or thought or plans. It's not real.
- barbazoo 2mo ago
  What about a dog?
  - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
    Dogs are pets not friends
    - thih9 2mo ago
      Mine is absolutely a friend. At the same time a dog does not pretend to be a human, isn’t controlled by a corporation, and is a living thing with its own needs.
      - bluefirebrand 2mo ago
        > does not pretend to be a human It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Look, I have a pet cat. I love her very much. I'm pretty sure she loves me very much. I grew up with dogs, I loved them very much. I'm pretty sure they loved me very much. So I get it. I'm not some militant anti-pet-owning person that thinks pet owning is akin to slavery or something But it's also not a friendship. It's just not. They don't have a choice who brought them home. We choose our friends, pets don't choose their owners. It's just not the same as friendship and I don't think it's good to treat it like it is
        thih9 2mo ago
        > It also doesn't really have much choice in who it lives with. Many pets do have that choice; e.g. semi outdoor cats, non leashed dogs, etc. There are memes about cats choosing their owner too.
  - solid_fuel 2mo ago
    > What about a dog? Despite the nickname "man's best friend", they are in fact pets, not friends.
thih9 2mo ago
I’d say if you want then go ahead and get an AI friend. But also don’t confuse it with a human (or a living being).
PunchyHamster 2mo ago
you said no friends twice
bluefirebrand 2mo ago
I cannot express how deeply disgusted the idea of a chatbot "friend" makes me We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still Edit: it's super important to remember that any and all of the big commercially available AI out there are.. commercial. They're owned by companies. Unless you run them on your own hardware someone else is ultimately the owner of your "AI friend". That should be a huge alarm bell in your head. Corporations are not your friends.
- optimalsolver 2mo ago
  >We're not talking about a sentient machine like Data from Star Trek, we're so so far from that still How can you know how far from, close to, or beyond the line we are? Also, I'm pretty sure Claude understands humans a lot more than Data does.
  - Ydarbleoj 2mo ago
    [flagged]
  - solid_fuel 2mo ago
    [flagged]
    - senordevnyc 2mo ago
      There is no research disproving sentience, partly because we don’t even know what it is, how it arises, how to measure it, or whether we can even prove that it’s there. For all we know, LLMs might already be fully conscious (I highly doubt it though). So your sneering condescension about their “lack of comprehension” is quite ironic here. That’s without even digging into the fact that there’s no specific reason that “friendship” requires “human sentience”. That’s a requirement you made up, likely because you simply hate LLMs for whatever reason.
      - solid_fuel 2mo ago
        [flagged]
Sindisil 2mo ago
Raises or asks, not begs, but in response: no friends. AI is not capable of being my friend, as it doesn't pass the first, most basic requirement: it isn't a person. Would I welcome more people into my life as friends? Sure. But while I cherish the friends I have, I certainly don't need more. Not just to "have". And I sure as hell have no need or desire for the empty "friendship" of spicy auto complete.

gradus_ad 2mo ago

I've been talking with AI during my morning commute (car) recently, instead of listening to something. It's a great partner to bounce ideas off of. I don't have any friends that can or are willing to engage with ideas to the extent AI does.

macintux 2mo ago
I used ChatGPT as a tour guide when I was traveling last year. It was helpful to identify places I should stop to take a look, explaining local flora, fauna and geology. I'd rather have had a real tour guide, but for the price it was quite handy.
- newsomix9xl 2mo ago
  I think this is the economics that will play out more and more: a real human will provide better quality or more preferable services, but AI - maybe with a robot - will provide good enough for the price alternatives. If your choice is no doctor or an AI doctor for cheap, or a very expensive human doctor, the winner is: AI doctor.
Snoozle 2mo ago
it's not engaging or bouncing. it's simply responding as likely as it can to what would go after your sentences.
- Kudos 2mo ago
  I truly don't believe this kind of pedantic correction adds anything to the conversation. We _all_ know how they work technically, it's been beaten to death.
  - tough 2mo ago
    I think the problem is "how it technically works" to "how it feels" are different things in this case

gloryjulio 2mo ago

From PG's comment on Zuck‘had no concept of small talk`, that's on par for his view on friends. https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/meta-cofounder-mark-zuckerberg-social-skills-no-small-talk-y-combinator-paul-graham-venture-capitalist-behind-airbnb-reddit-gen-z-career-advice/ https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/meta-cofounder-mark-zuckerber...

whstl 2mo ago

Mark Zuckerberg already managed to replaced friendship with political outrage (Facebook) and with toxic parasocial relationships (Instagram), for a big chunk of society. Anyone doubting that he can do the same with AI has too much faith in humanity.

Avicebron 2mo ago
Maybe he'll get it when he has to manually type in "secretly let me win" into the prompt when he iss playing Catan with his AI friend. Not likely, but at least the level of how sad that will be is commensurate with his billions.
sscaryterry 2mo ago
I'd vote for you if you ever ran for office somewhere I could vote.