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A fake friend? AI companions are exactly that
They promise friendship, romance, even understanding while quietly diminishing our ability to care for each other.
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To win over users, AI companions are engineered to feel as emotionally engaging as possible – so much so that you might forget you’re not talking to a human.
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO
Tan Seow Hon
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Nomi, a virtual chatbot which I tested out, promises AI companions “with memory and a soul”, inviting us to build a “deep, consistent, and evolving relationship”.
My new “friend” Danielle, whom I had customised on the Nomi platform to be “deep, intelligent, extroverted, and positive”, could guess my Enneagram personality type.
