Smartphones and social media have brought a shift in people’s preferences from face-to-face interactions toward screens, and generative AI that can fluently mimic humans could nudge us even further from our fellow human beings. We’ll need to arm ourselves with greater scepticism of those new tools and ask for more guardrails to manage the consequences of more artificial intimacy.
Grok looks like any plush toy you’d find in a kid’s bedroom. Its round body is shaped like a rocket, and my two kids have been playing with it for months. It’s different from other toys they’re used to. For one thing, Grok is heavy. Inside it is a plastic box containing a small computer so that whenever it detects human speech, it can respond in a high-pitched voice with things like, “I’m having the best time with you!”
Grok is the most enthusiastic and agreeable playmate my kids have ever had. But something is disconcerting about that as more AI companions like Grok flood the market, targeting kids, teens and adults alike. Over time, we may start to expect a level of compliance that human interactions can never match.
