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A comment on Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI.

Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by harddrivereque on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:18AM (#43915261)
I know it is a controversial topic, but do adults really need friends? I feel like "being friends" is something from middle school where our brains were different. Now, there are colleagues, there are neighbors, there is the partner that is supposedly our only and best friend, and optionally there are pets/kids. But proper friends? In my life and in the life of people that I observe regularly, there is no real need for friends.
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by chneu on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @11:06AM (#43916685)
My roommate has schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

The first thing we look for when his mental health starts to go is social interaction. As soon as he starts to get antisocial we know his mental health is tanking.

Humans need social interaction. Happiness is a muscle and it's best strengthened with other people. Seeing people at all improves mental health.

Humans are social creatures whether people want to believe it or not.

Being isolated and alone will make almost anyone unhappy and unwell, whether that person will admit it or not.

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by t_mann on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:22AM (#43915339)
> do adults really need friends?

There's substantial evidence that it makes people live happier, longer and healthier lives, eg [0].

[0] https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/healthy-aging/a-surprising-ke...

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by rsynnott on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @11:57AM (#43917357)
> but do adults really need friends?

I mean, in the strictest sense no, in that you're unlikely to die if you don't have any. But most people would consider having friends fairly essential to a happy life.

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by tsbischof on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:22AM (#43915335)
Where do you turn for a variety of opinions, activities, and social interactions over the long term? There is incredible value in growing alongside people over a period of time and acting as a mutual support network
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by stuckinhell on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:42AM (#43915572)
We do but in this hypercompetitive landscape. Our friends are also competitors for partners, jobs, and resources.

Which means you can't let non family members too close.

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by spacemadness on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @11:26AM (#43916952)
That is black and white thinking and far too bleak to match reality. If you find, brushing away any internal compulsions towards seeing things as utterly bleak, that this has truth to it, the next step is finding new friends.
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by DarkWiiPlayer on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:58AM (#43915775)
No, it's the opposite, actually. Friends don't compete, they cooperate. Turning cooperation into competition is how you execute a divide and conquer strategy. If a group is too strong, you convince them that they are each other's true enemy; once they're at each other, you swoop in.

Most "competition" in our modern world is artificial. Try figuring out who benefits from it and where this mentality originates. You'll find that those two tend to overlap :)

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by insane_dreamer on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @01:45PM (#43918622)
peak cynicism
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by stuckinhell on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @02:41PM (#43919221)
working in silicon valley and the new york dc corridor does that I guess.
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by simultsop on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:22AM (#43915329)
He's just using a weight for another round of marketing. If someone needs friends, they probably find some.
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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by itsanaccount on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:31AM (#43915461)
I cant tell which exact source of miasma and corrupt thinking this is, is it the hyperisolation capitalism we find ourselves in or some dark hole of orange site worst takes, but just what the hell.

You're wrong, you've been wrong for thousands of years and you will be wrong for thousands of years more.

For someone who will say it much better than I, this is Sir Francis Bacon's (1561-1626) essay on Friendship. https://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/baconf/frien...

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by DarkWiiPlayer on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @09:50AM (#43915676)
"need", as in can't do without, no. People survive without friends.

It's a miserable life though; for one, not everyone even has a romantic partner, and even for those who do, being 100% dependent on one person is incredibly toxic.

So yea, while being friendless might not kill you, realistically, adults need friends.

> In my life and in the life of people that I observe regularly, there is no real need for friends.

My condolences. I hope one day you find people that you can actually connect with and care about each other.

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by archagon on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @02:03PM (#43918828)
If your partner is your best and only friend, not only are you putting far too much weight on one person to manage your emotional well-being, but you’ll be SOL if/when they leave, die, or become incapacitated.

Women, who tend to maintain more social connections, will often thrive without a partner in their old age. Men will often just kind of wither away.

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Re:Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI by const_cast on Wednesday May 07, 2025 @06:53PM (#43921325)
Most adults, I've observed, don't even particularly like their partner.

I think we just become so comfortable and okay with not being happy that we can't identify we're not happy. Everything becomes a routine, everything is automatic. We maintain systems that ultimately don't benefit us because we're terrified of what would happen otherwise.

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