Friend, a wearable AI device, listens to users and chats with them when they are lonely, but raises concerns because it can be exploited to eavesdrop.
The person behind Friend is Avi Schiffman. He became famous during the pandemic when he created the world's most popular Covid-19 tracking website with 25 million views per day. He lives on Mercer Island near Seattle and is considered by the US media as a technology talent when he taught himself programming via the Internet and wrote software proficiently since the age of 7. He just dropped out of Harvard University to focus on starting a business.
Friend is the latest product created by Schiffman, an American of British descent, and is set to go on sale in August for $99. Speaking to The Sun, he said the idea for the device came to him while traveling alone in Japan and longing for a companion.
In terms of structure, Friend is circular, similar to Apple AirTag but larger, with a necklace hook on top. Inside, the device has a microphone, recording what is emitted around it, or when the owner wants to talk to it, then analyzing it using AI to give a response. Schiffman did not disclose the AI model in Friend.
Unlike AI smartphones like AI Pin, which gives answers when asked, Friend simply listens because it does not have a speaker. The response is done through the application interface installed on the smartphone. According to Schiffman, this is to ensure privacy.
Friend will listen to sounds, such as conversations between friends, or when walking alone in the woods, then respond via phone "like two friends are having a secret conversation". Over time, it will "understand" its owner better.
However, after appearing on the Internet, Friend did not receive positive reviews. "This is a product for losers because it specializes in eavesdropping on others", commented one X account. "This AI device makes me unhappy because it collects everything around me, then 'talks behind my back'," wrote another account. Many people compared Friend to an episode of Black Mirror - a psychological horror science fiction film about the downsides of future technology.
The comments became harsher when Schiffman announced that he had raised $ 2.5 million for Friend from Caffeinated Capital, Perplexity AI and Morning Brew. Instead of using the money to focus on product development, he spent $1.8 million to buy the domain name friend.com. "People think it's ridiculous that I bought a domain like that, but that's what the investment money was for," Schiffmann told Business Insider, referring to Elon Musk's $11 million purchase of the domain name tesla.com.
Schiffmann admits that the user response to Friend wasn't what he expected after the video was released. "Honestly, I think it's because the video is so good. Maybe that's my mistake. There hasn't been a high-quality video about AI friendship since Her," he says.
According to Schiffmann, Friend has a bunch of advantages that people don't talk about, and it requires access to every aspect of a user's life to work.
"If one of your five best friends is AI, that's a good thing, especially if you're afraid of being judged by others. It can fill a void when you're traveling, or you want to talk to someone but it's late at night," Schiffmann says. "Friend makes you feel like it's really there with you. It's nice to have a sentient entity."