AI Individualism: What Are Social Relationships in the Age of Artificial Intelligence? (opens in new tab)

“I even made a new friend. I have a friend … and the absurd thing is, she’s an operating system.” This quote is from the 2013 science fiction film Her, in which Theodore—a lonely, recently divorced man—develops a deep relationship with an artificial intelligence (AI) designed to meet his emotional and social needs. More than decade ago, this scene felt like speculative fiction. Today, it feels strikingly familiar. Few things matter more to us than the ways we build and maintain social relatio...