5 Books, 15 AI Friends, and 1 Fed Speech

Mid-week culture and context

The author in his office

What was the last book you read? And when did you read it?

I ask because Americans are reading fewer books for less time (although the print book market remains healthy). One of my favorite filmmakers, Max Joseph, made a great movie on bookstores and how we need to prioritize reading time in a culture that hits us with so much content, distraction, and noise.

Joseph gives some great strategies on how to read more in what he calls a “golden age of content.” It inspired me to make a movie of my own on the 5 Books That Transformed My Worldview.

I wanted to share how I became a big reader; how I developed a love for books. It started when I was young reading the Brains Benton series with my Dad. But it doesn’t matter how old you are — simply find something that you enjoy; something that excites you.

Then you might find a book that transforms your worldview or gives you empathy for someone or something that you never thought about prior to reading. These are the types of deeper truths and insights that you cannot find on social media.

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15 AI friends

Maybe you can talk about your favorite books with the 15 AI friends that Mark Zuckerberg thinks we all want in his digital future? He thinks people are lonely and have capacity for at least 15 AI friends.

I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds awful.

I know Zuck was right about Facebook a couple decades ago. And he’s definitely correct that people are lonelier than ever, which has contributed to the young men crisis I’ve written about previously.

But won’t this only worsen social isolation? If people are taking time from real life to hang out with AI friends, when are they supposed to hang out with other humans? How are they supposed to develop deeper connections with real people?

Look, I love what Zuck is doing with most of his AI efforts and I think the Meta glasses are pretty dope. If humanity moves from phone to hands-free glasses in the future, Meta could have the next iPhone product on their hands. Those are big “ifs” and “coulds”, but I’m not one to bet against Zuck.

Most of the time.

I do think his vision of so many AI friends (15!) is wrong. No matter how much an AI knows us, it’s not an authentic connection. No AI, no matter how much you train it, has authentic human experiences.

I could see a world where we have a few AI agents helping us with different tasks, but when it comes to more emotional or friendship or even romantic connection, I’m more skeptical.

As Aristotle said, “Man is, by nature, a political animal.” What he was referring to is not “political” in the activist sense, but in the community or social sense. We need other people. We are not meant to live in isolation with computers, no matter how real or human they may seem.

My favorite quote from about Zuck’s AI friend effort comes from one of his former employees:

“The very platforms that have led to our social isolation and being chronically online are now posing a solution to the loneliness epidemic. It almost seems like the arsonist coming back and being the fireman.” - Meghana Dhar, a former Instagram executive

So until I see evidence otherwise, Zuck may want to rethink his 15 AI friend future and focus more on making those Meta glasses the next iPhone.

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