Casey Liss

It is. It is something that is for sure. So a friend of the show, Cable Sasser, was posting, I believe, on Mastodon. Apple Intelligence and macOS 15.1 just flagged a phishing email as priority and moved it to the top of my inbox. This seems bad.

So the end of last month, everyone kind of, everyone in our circles anyway, briefly talked about this thing, mostly on Mastodon, and then it just disappeared. And the thing is, friend, and if you are in a position that you can pause the podcast and watch, I think it was like a 90-second or two-minute video, their reveal trailer, I would encourage you to do so. There is a link in the show notes.

So the end of last month, everyone kind of, everyone in our circles anyway, briefly talked about this thing, mostly on Mastodon, and then it just disappeared. And the thing is, friend, and if you are in a position that you can pause the podcast and watch, I think it was like a 90-second or two-minute video, their reveal trailer, I would encourage you to do so. There is a link in the show notes.

It is worth two minutes of your time or whatever it was. And so what this is, is a pendant sort of thing that you wear like a necklace, I guess, with like a circle that has a microphone on it. And you can talk to this thing and it will reply to you basically via a text message. I don't think it's literally a text message, but effectively it's, you know, it's masquerading as a text message.

It is worth two minutes of your time or whatever it was. And so what this is, is a pendant sort of thing that you wear like a necklace, I guess, with like a circle that has a microphone on it. And you can talk to this thing and it will reply to you basically via a text message. I don't think it's literally a text message, but effectively it's, you know, it's masquerading as a text message.

And it's supposed to be your friend. And so in the trailer, they show like a person on a hike and she says something along the lines of like, Ooh, that was brutal. And the friend sends her text and says, well, at least it's a really nice day or something along those lines. I forget exactly what the, what the, what it was, but everyone was making fun of this.

And it's supposed to be your friend. And so in the trailer, they show like a person on a hike and she says something along the lines of like, Ooh, that was brutal. And the friend sends her text and says, well, at least it's a really nice day or something along those lines. I forget exactly what the, what the, what it was, but everyone was making fun of this.

And I went into this expecting to be, to be repulsed by this. And while I don't think this is for me, um, I kind of feel like it's harmless. Like, I don't feel, I don't see why this is such a big deal. But we can either talk about it or I can read the description in the show notes first. What would you rather me do, John?

And I went into this expecting to be, to be repulsed by this. And while I don't think this is for me, um, I kind of feel like it's harmless. Like, I don't feel, I don't see why this is such a big deal. But we can either talk about it or I can read the description in the show notes first. What would you rather me do, John?

All right, so let me go ahead and do that. So this is from an interview with the, I guess, CEO or founder. This is on The Verge. A few minutes before Avi Schiffman and I get on Google Meet to talk about the new product he's building, an AI companion called Friend, he sends me a screenshot of a message he just received. It's from, quote-unquote, Emily, and it wishes him luck with our chat.

All right, so let me go ahead and do that. So this is from an interview with the, I guess, CEO or founder. This is on The Verge. A few minutes before Avi Schiffman and I get on Google Meet to talk about the new product he's building, an AI companion called Friend, he sends me a screenshot of a message he just received. It's from, quote-unquote, Emily, and it wishes him luck with our chat.

Quote, good luck with the interview. And Emily writes, I know you'll do great. I'm here if you need me after. Friend is not a way to get more done or augment or enhance anything. It's, well, a friend, an AI friend that can go with you anywhere, experience things with you, and just be there with you all the time. Quote, it's very supportive, very validating.

Quote, good luck with the interview. And Emily writes, I know you'll do great. I'm here if you need me after. Friend is not a way to get more done or augment or enhance anything. It's, well, a friend, an AI friend that can go with you anywhere, experience things with you, and just be there with you all the time. Quote, it's very supportive, very validating.

It'll encourage your ideas, Shiffman says. It's also super intelligent. It's a great brainstorming buddy. You can talk to it about relationships, things like that. Schiffman is quick to note that he doesn't think AI is a replacement for anything. It's just more convenient, he says, and it's nice.

It'll encourage your ideas, Shiffman says. It's also super intelligent. It's a great brainstorming buddy. You can talk to it about relationships, things like that. Schiffman is quick to note that he doesn't think AI is a replacement for anything. It's just more convenient, he says, and it's nice.

The friend device itself is a round glowing orb that Schiffman imagines you'll either wear around your neck or clip onto your clothes or accessories. It has a built-in microphone that can either record ambiently or you can talk to directly. Schiffman says he does eventually want to add a camera. The orb doesn't talk back, though.

The friend device itself is a round glowing orb that Schiffman imagines you'll either wear around your neck or clip onto your clothes or accessories. It has a built-in microphone that can either record ambiently or you can talk to directly. Schiffman says he does eventually want to add a camera. The orb doesn't talk back, though.

It mostly communicates through text via the Friend app on your phone. Schiffman thinks that's more natural and familiar. Friend is still very early and very much a prototype. Schiffman says he's planning to ship the first 30,000 devices next January and will charge $99 apiece with no ongoing subscription fee.

It mostly communicates through text via the Friend app on your phone. Schiffman thinks that's more natural and familiar. Friend is still very early and very much a prototype. Schiffman says he's planning to ship the first 30,000 devices next January and will charge $99 apiece with no ongoing subscription fee.

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Like I said, I went into this thinking, oh, this is going to be awful. And yeah, the video was very cringey. I'm sorry, very cringe. But that being said, I think I kind of like it. And I think I like it because it's so low stakes and it's just for funsies. You know, it's a Tamagotchi for the year 2024. And I don't see anything wrong with that.