Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, X, Reddit—all have aggressively put AI chatbots in front of users. On the podcast, Zuckerberg said that AI probably won’t “replace in-person connections or real-life connections”—at least not right away. Yet he also spoke of the potential for AI therapists and girlfriends to be embodied in virtual space; of Meta’s desire—he couldn’t seem to help himself from saying—to produce “always-on videochat” with an AI that looks, gestures, smiles, and sounds like a real person.
Meta is working to make that desire a reality. And it is hardly leading the charge: Many companies are doing the same, and many people already use AI for companionship, sexual gratification, mental-health care.
Damon Beres, The Atlantic