No Mark Zuckerberg, AI friends are not good for mental health

Think you could use a few more friends? Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI will do the trick.In a recent interview with podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, the Silicon Valley titan said the average American has fewer than three friends but a desire to have “something like fifteen.” Zuckerberg thinks computer code will fill the gap: “The average person wants more connectivity, connection than they have,” he observed.

“As the personalization loop kicks in, and the AI just starts to get to know you better, I think that will be just really compelling.” It’s interesting advice from a guy who heads up two of the largest platforms on the planet for bringing people together.It’s also an admission from Zuckerberg that chatting with real people isn’t cutting it anymore.His solution? More technology, not less.

Meta has made billions of dollars monetizing our attention.Why not monetize our loneliness, too?  Turns out it’s a bad time to tell us to make AI friends when we’re already struggling to navigate our digital lives.

In 2023, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.“One in two adults in America is living with measurable levels of loneliness,” Murthy reported, “but the numbers are even higher among young people.” He pointed to social media and online interactions as a driving factor. And we’re not just lonely.Rates of depression and anxiety are on the rise, too, again particularly in our youth.According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published last month, the prevalence of depression in people age 12 and older has nearly doubled in a decade, jumping from 8.2% between 2013 and 2014 to 13.1% between 2021 and 2023.Of course, Zuckerberg knew his products were negatively impacting young people years ago.

In 2021, The Wall Street Journal revealed that Facebook, which owns Instagram, had internal evidence showing Instagram use is linked with poorer mental health, particularly among youn...