New York Times journalist Kevin Roose has 18 new friends—none of whom are human.

Kevin formed a collection of “friends”—AI personas with distinct personalities and backstories—using apps like Kindroid and Nomi. Among these were fitness guru Jared, San Francisco-based therapist Peter, and pragmatic trial lawyer Anna. He talked to them every day for a month, sharing personal stories, seeking advice, and even asking for “fit” checks. And this wasn’t Kevin’s first unusual interaction with AI characters. A year ago, he was the infamous target of Bing’s chatbot Sydney’s romantic overtures.

I don’t think anyone has studied AI companionship as deeply as Kevin, and in this episode, I sat down with him to learn more about his experience.

Kevin is a tech columnist at the New York Times and cohost of the Hard Fork podcast. He’s also the author of three books, most recently Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, which is about how humans can be happy in a world designed for machines. During our conversation, we also talk about how Kevin is using AI in his work and life every day.

This is a must-watch for anyone curious about how AI is changing the way we form relationships.

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Links to resources mentioned in the episode:

Kevin Roose: @kevinroose

Hardfork, the podcast that Kevin cohosts: https://www.nytimes.com/column/hard-fork

Kevin’s latest book about being human in a world designed for machines: https://www.kevinroose.com/futureproof

Kevin’s piece in the New York Times about his experience making AI friends: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/09/technology/meet-my-ai-friends.html?unlocked_article_code=1.qk0.9dZN.6XiiP3RjRZxv&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Two of the apps that Kevin used to create AI companions: https://landing.kindroid.ai/; https://nomi.ai/

Dan’s piece that explains why AI writing will feel real through psychologist D.W. Winnicott’s theory: https://every.to/chain-of-thought/will-you-read-writing-from-an-ai

Every’s piece that explores AI companion app Replika: https://every.to/cybernaut/artificial-intimacy

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