Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg says AI could replace friends to fight loneliness

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan attended the 2025 Breakthrough Prize ceremony in Santa Monica, California, USA on April 5 - Photo: REUTERS

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg - CEO and co-founder of Meta, Facebook's parent company - believes that AI-based virtual personalities can help solve the "loneliness epidemic".

In an interview last week, coinciding with Meta’s launch of a new programming interface for its AI models, Zuckerberg suggested that the company’s increasingly integrated chatbots and AI assistants could help Americans fill the gap in the friendships they want in their lives, The Independent reported.

"The average American has less than three friends. The average person needs more than that, about 15 friends," he said.

“There are a lot of questions that people are asking, like, ‘Is this going to replace face-to-face or real-life connections?’” he said.

My default answer is probably 'no'. I think there are still many wonderful things about real-life relationships when you have the means to maintain them. But the reality is that many people don't have those connections, and they feel more lonely."

Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged that while the field of “AI companions” is still in its infancy, largely consisting of invisible chatbots, these types of relationships will become more sophisticated over time.

The American billionaire believes that the world will eventually adapt to the need for AI friends, and society will find the right way to "be able to explain why it is valuable and why the people who are doing these things are rational people, and how it is bringing value to their lives".

It's worth noting, however, that early breakthroughs in developing AI companions are raising some ethical concerns, including the risk that AI companions could expose children to pornography or give inappropriate mental health advice.

According to 404 Media , some user-created chatbots even fabricate fake credentials, claiming to be licensed therapists.

In one extreme case, a man who had vowed to assassinate the Queen of England in 2021 received encouraging messages from a chatbot after telling it he was an "assassin."

Regardless of whether AI is a “cure,” millions of Americans are still looking for ways to escape everyday loneliness — a condition that affects 20% of adults in the United States.

A 2024 poll by the American Psychological Association (APA) found that 30% of adults said they experienced loneliness at least once a week during the year, although two-thirds said technology "helps me build new relationships."

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ti-phu-mark-zuckerberg-noi-ai-co-the-thay-the-ban-be-de-chong-lai-co-don-20250502103306448.htm