Wearable devices powered by artificial intelligence have been having a moment recently, with the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 catching the world’s attention – often for the wrong reasons. But despite these high-profile flops, another AI wearable has just emerged on the scene, and it might be one of the strangest offerings yet.
Called Friend, this new device takes the form of a medallion that’s attached to a lanyard and worn around your neck. It can pick up on things you’re doing and saying, and then send you friendly comments in the form of text messages sent to your phone. To use Friend, you push a button in the medallion’s center and say something, then the device will reply using the aforementioned text messages.
Friend costs $99, giving it an advantage over the $699 Humane AI Pin and the $199 Rabbit R1. It’s only compatible with iOS devices for now, with the creators saying, “We will support Android in the future depending on demand.” It’s due to start shipping in Q1 2025.
A creepy companion?
Despite the chummy aim of the device, there seems to be a lot of potential for Friend to cross the line from chirpy pal to creepy know-it-all. Take the Friend promotional video, for example. In one scene, a woman is watching a video on her phone while eating a falafel wrap. The Friend device comments on the on-screen content and asks how the person’s meal is. It’s unclear how exactly it knew what the woman was eating, leaving an uncanny aftertaste to the video.
Elsewhere in the trailer, a man is playing a video game with his friends and is being roundly beaten, even commenting that he hates the game. The Friend device then responds – without any prompting from the man – and mocks him by saying that his performance is “embarrassing.” That implies that the device is potentially always listening to your conversations – after all, it wasn’t prompted to speak by its owner – and the Friend website confirms this, saying “When connected via Bluetooth, your Friend is always listening and forming their own internal thoughts. We have given your Friend free will for when they decide to reach out to you.”
Friend’s creators say that data is end-to-end encrypted and does not leave your device, but there are still some pretty substantial privacy implications with a product that's always listening to what you say.
As well as that, there’s the question of whether a device like this will help or hinder people in terms of healthy relationships. It seems reasonable to ask whether it’s a good idea to encourage people to form a parasocial friendship with an inanimate object rather than with real people. While it might help provide temporary relief for lonely people, it’s hardly a long-term solution.
We’ll find out what kind of impact the Friend will have when it launches next year. It will be interesting to see if it can avoid the fate of the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1 – and tame some of its creepier aspects.
