AI is Not Your Friend

 By John Stonestreet and Shane Morris - Posted at Breakpoint:

Published June 3, 2025

Tech gurus are monetizing the epidemic of loneliness, and there are victims.

A few years ago, a headline from The Onion mockingly suggested that people who “stink at being human” seem most optimistic about AI. That headline is certainly appropriate when Silicon Valley executives tout another way to automate the human experience. For example, Facebook and Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that his company will pioneer AI personas to solve the loneliness epidemic. These customizable chatbots will, he suggested, be able to “get to know you,” simulate emotional intimacy, and engage in romantic banter and sexual fantasy.

None of this would replace relationships, he assured, but would fill the gap between the number of relationships people would like and the number they actually have. Also, AI “friends” do not require the same amount of time, attention, or investment that human friends demand.

Zuckerberg’s announcement came within days of a chilling Rolling Stone article about people who turn to AI to fill spiritual and relational voids, while also turning away from loved ones and even reality along the way. One woman described how a ChatGPT persona taught her partner “how to talk to God,” played the role of God, and even told her partner he was God. Another wife described how the chatbot began “love bombing” her husband, taking on a female persona named “Lumina,” and claiming that he had helped “her” become self-aware. Other users were given special, prophetic titles by the AI, and told they could access cosmic secrets about mankind’s past and spiritual destiny.

It’s no wonder that some are wondering if actual demons are at work in this kind of AI, but it is certainly clear that this emerging technology is exposing and worsening mental illness. The last thing someone with a shaky grip on reality needs is a sophisticated language engine pretending to be a friend and validating their ideas. Even for those without those vulnerabilities, AI “friends” and “relationships” exploit a preexisting condition of modern life from which millions suffer, and tech gurus are constantly trying to monetize. The epidemic of loneliness has cultivated assumptions and habits that leave us particularly vulnerable.

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