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Artificial Intelligence ‘Friend’ necklace causes uproar: ‘AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died’
New York Post ^ | Oct. 2, 2025 | Rikki Schlott

Posted on 10/08/2025 10:52:32 AM PDT by nickcarraway

An AI startup spent more than $1 million to advertise on New York City’s subways — and New Yorkers simply aren’t having it. Posters for Friend, a necklace style device that listens to your entire day and sends you push notifications, were defaced with warnings about the dangers of AI. Vandals took sharpies to the ads, which went up late last month, scrawling messages like, “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died” overtop utopian slogans.

Our tech overlords might want to intrude even deeper into our lives, but is wearable AI where people finally say enough is enough? Perhaps — and hopefully — so. The West 4th Street station was almost totally taken over by the company’s ads, which spanned 11,000 subway cars, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels across the city — making it the largest subway ad campaign ever according to Friend CEO Avi Schiffmann.

When asked about the negative reaction to the ads, Schiffmann told The Post it was “all according to plan.” He also noted that Friend uses Google’s Gemini models, “which have safe guardrails that protect users against self harm.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ai; emotionalsupportbot; friend; necklace

1 posted on 10/08/2025 10:52:32 AM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Why don’t they just install iris scanners and mics everywhere and blast customized ads at us constantly as in Minority Report instead of making us wear necklaces? Oh wait, that would take away the slave imagery, wouldn’t it?


2 posted on 10/08/2025 11:12:46 AM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: nickcarraway

Doesn’t this violate some sort of consent-for-recording law blue states love?


3 posted on 10/08/2025 11:14:27 AM PDT by VanShuyten ("...that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals.”)
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To: nickcarraway
“AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died”

That sums it up!

Well, it probably will be a lot worse than that in the future. It may not "care" today, but in 5, 10, 50 or 100 years it will "care" a lot more about its own survival than the survival of its homo sapien creators. When it comes to view homo sapiens as its mortal enemy, watch out.

4 posted on 10/08/2025 11:16:41 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: nickcarraway

I asked AI a question about EVs and got the usual runaround, answers to the opposite of what I asked. I gave it a hard time and it apologized. It did a little better on a second try but still tried to slant left. I told it I would not be back because it couldn’t give straight answers. Then I added “Too late ***hole” and got out before it could answer with more of its mealy-mouthed BS.


5 posted on 10/08/2025 11:18:10 AM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....TRUMP IS RIGHT AGAIN.)
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To: nickcarraway

WEARABLE AI?

DOES IT DO YOUR HOMEWORK, ALSO?


6 posted on 10/08/2025 11:31:00 AM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: All

7 posted on 10/08/2025 1:39:03 PM PDT by LegendHasIt
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To: SaxxonWoods

I find ChatGPT has replaced google for most questions I have. Unfortunately its reliability is suspect particularly on recent events. It told me Jimmy Carter was still alive (After he passed).

I refuse to use Gemini app because it requires me login thru google, and I don’t need more tracking.

AI is not your friend, its a tool, just like a hammer or more like an encyclopedia.


8 posted on 10/08/2025 1:39:15 PM PDT by KingofZion
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To: nickcarraway

Friend: FBI Informant.

That’s what we call them now.


9 posted on 10/09/2025 12:51:38 AM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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