A new vision for artificially intelligent devices has emerged from US start-up Friend, which is launching a necklace wearable that promises constant companionship.
The Friend device is an amulet-like pendant that listens to its wearer throughout their day and sends conversational text messages based on things that are happening in their life.
Friend launched for pre-order on 30 July with a blog post by company founder Avi Schiffmann titled "Happy International Friendship Day", beginning with the line "Friend is an expression of how lonely I've felt".
Friend attempts to combat loneliness with an AI companion
In several interviews with tech publications, Schiffmann discussed how he had become disillusioned with productivity optimisation as a de facto end goal for AI technology. He started to develop Friend while feeling lonely on a business trip in Tokyo with his then productivity-focused AI prototype, Tab. He found he didn't just want to talk to the AI, he told Wired, he wanted it "to feel like this companion is actually there with me travelling".
His tweaks to that prototype became Friend, which has a stripped-down functionality focused purely on conversational companionship.
The companion is always listening and interacts via text message
Friend's AI is always listening and sends messages without prompting. But the user can also press on the centre of the circular device to talk to their companion directly and receive a response in reply. A vi...