Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he would like to see people have AI-generated friends, insisting it can be “rational” and “actually add value” to people’s lives. The Facebook founder believes that most people have far less friends that they would like to have, and his AI bots will fill the gap.
“We’re at the point with technology where the physical and digital world should really be fully blended,” Zuckerberg said during Tuesday’s episode of Dwarkesh Podcast.
Watch Below:
The host of the technology-focused podcast, Dwarkesh Patel, told the Meta CEO that people already “have meaningful relationships with AI therapists” and “AI friends,” noting, “This is just going to get more intense as these AIs become more unique, more personable, more intelligent.”
Zuckerberg claims that the average American “has fewer than three friends — three people they consider friends — and the average person has demand for, I think it’s something like 15 friends.”
“The average person wants more connection than they have,” the Meta CEO said, before acknowledging the public’s concern around AI, as they wonder, “Is this going to replace in-person connections or real-life connections?”
“And my default is: Probably no,” Zuckerberg said. “I think there are all these things that are better about physical connections when you can have them, but the reality is that people just don’t have the connections, and they feel more alone a lot of the time than they would like.”
The billionaire added that he believes “a lot of these things” about AI that “might be” stigmatized will eventually get worked out “over time,” and people will realize that those who use AI for these types of connections “are rational for doing it” and “actually adding value to their lives.”
Zuckerberg added that he believes people will start using AI “for a lot of these social tasks.”
“Already, one of the main things we see people using Meta AI for is talking through difficult conversations that they need to have with people in their lives,” Zuckerberg said, citing people who use artificial intelligence to brainstorm discussions they want to have with a girlfriend or a boss.
“And I think as the personalization loop kicks in and the AI starts to get to know you better and better, I think that will just be really compelling,” he said.
Watch Below:
As for where AI technology is headed, Zuckerberg asserted that one day, “You’ll be able to basically have an always-on video chat” with artificial intelligence, which will include “all the non-verbal” gestures that make up “more than half of communication when you’re actually having a conversation.”
Patel said he is “mostly optimistic about the technology,” as he is “libertarian about people doing something they probably think is good for them,” but admitted, “I am worried that we’re just removing all the friction between getting totally reward-hacked by our technology.”
“How do we make sure this is not what ends up happening in five years?” the podcast host asked, to which Zuckerberg replied, “Again, I think people have a good sense of what they want.”
The Meta CEO added, “The main thing I see here is: It’s kind of crazy that, for how important the digital world is in all of our lives, the only way we access it is through these physical, digital screens.”
“It just seems like we’re at the point with technology where the physical and digital world should really be fully blended,” Zuckerberg said. “And that’s what holographic overlays allow you to do.”
“You’ll be able to bring digital artifacts into those interactions and do cool things very seamlessly,” he added. “If two of us are here physically and you have a third friend who’s hologramming in, they can participate, too.”
“But I think in that world — just like how you don’t want your physical space to be cluttered, because it wears on you psychologically — I don’t think people are going to want the digital-physical space to feel that way either,” Zuckerberg insisted.
“That’s more of an aesthetic norm that I think we’ll have to get worked out,” he said. “But I think we’ll figure that out.”
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
