New York City’s expansive subway system is currently plastered with advertisements for an AI startup called Friend, which has spent more than a million dollars on over 11,000 subway cars ads, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels.
Judging by the response, the campaign is earning the company very few friends among New Yorkers. Subway riders have been vandalizing and peeling the ads down since the campaign started last week.
And the company’s CEO, Avi Schiffmann, says he did it on purpose.
“I know people in New York hate AI, and things like AI companionship and wearables, probably more than anywhere else in the country,” he told Adweek. “So I bought more ads than anyone has ever done with a lot of white space so that they would socially comment on the topic.”
And he got exactly that. Messages scrawled across the ads read “stop profiting off of loneliness,” “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died,” “go make real friends,” “this is surveillance,” and “AI will promote suicide when prompted.”
It’s true that many are rightfully concerned about AI’s impact on human loneliness, and becoming increasingly untrusting of it.
And, it’s worth pointing out, a CEO who would troll the city of New York doesn’t seem aligned with a product that’s supposed to “care” about its users, especially because Friend’s flagship product is a $129 wearable gadget that sits around your neck and listens to your every word, sparking substantial privacy concerns.
The company’s privacy policy says while your data may be safe from being purchased for marketing purposes, it will be used for research and “to comply with legal obligations, including those under the GDPR, CCPA, and any other relevant privacy laws, and to protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of our users, Friend, or third parties.”
The quality of the experience is also up for debate. In a scathing review from Wired, two journalists found Friend snarky, sarcastic, unhelpful, as well as surprisingly argumentative and holier-than-thou.
Honestly? It probably tracks for a 22-year-old creator like Schiffmann, who opted to burn capital rage-baiting one of the biggest cities in the world. No need for friends when you can now pay to keep your enemy closest.
More on loneliness and AI companionship: Vast Numbers of Lonely Kids Are Using AI as Substitute Friends