Friend is the new AI companion that social media believes is beyond parody
A good AI wearable is hard to come by these days. And as tech startups like HumaneAI and Rabbit R1 attempt to reinvent the wheel with minimalist versions of our smartphones, an upcoming device called Friend just wants to be there for you instead, if its ad is to be believed.
Friend, a wearable orb-like AI companion you wear around your neck was created by Avi Schifmann, most known for a website he built in 2020 to help track the spread of Covid-19. According to Schifmann's interview with outlets The Verge and WIRED, Friend is merely that, a friend. Its purpose isn’t to handle tasks or improve productivity but to provide a supportive presence, offering advice and encouragement when needed.
Schiffmann, who has been working on this idea for years, unveiled the project on Tuesday. And the social media responses were not kind. To be fair though, the reveal trailer is pretty.
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One X user even claims — in the form of a rap(!?) — that Friend was his idea.
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It also doesn't help that, after raising $2.5 million in funds, the founder then spent $1.8 million of it on the domain name for his company's product.
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Thus, what we're left with and what was shown in the reveal trailer is essentially a Bluetooth device strapped to your neck that is always listening. This is so it can send you texts on your phone. Per the site's FAQ page, "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."
Understandably, that might sound a bit creepy. The site reassures would-be buyers that nothing is tracked, recorded, or written down. They promise all data is "end-to-end encrypted" and deletable through the Friend app — which, FYI, is only available for iOS. Oh, and if you break your Friend, you'll need to start over with a new one.
If you want to get your hands on one, you'll have to wait. Pre-orders are starting at $99.99 and according to the site, will tentatively ship in Q1 of next year. Maybe during that time, you can make actual friends.