Can We Be Friends With Chatbots? The Future of Human Relationships in the Age of AI

What will happen when a crisis of youth disconnection & loneliness meets a world shaped by AI?  In the last two years, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of AI companions. They take a range of forms — virtual boyfriends, math tutors, research guides, therapists, video-game playmates. Reid Hoffman asserts that we’re not far from a future when “everyone’s going to have their own personal intelligent assistant that will be a companion as they navigate life.” Already we are seeing this technology disrupt schools, the internet, jobs, and any number of tenets of life as we know it. There is no question that it will reshape the way we relate to ourselves and others. But how? During this conversation, we’ll get hands on with these emerging tools in order to consider what happens to human relationships if that future comes to be. What hunger for connection can these chatbots satiate? What can’t they? And what beliefs or behaviors might they reinforce, support, or deteriorate. Due to limited capacity for this session, please indicate your interest in attending. Your RSVP will be confirmed by a member of the ASU+GSV team: https://forms.gle/kX9ExqsiyTUPQ6QF8.