Artificial Intelligence ‘Friend’ necklace causes uproar: ‘AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died’
Vandals graffitied posters for Friend with warnings about the dangers posed by AI. @CryptoVonDoom/X
An AI startup has poured more than $1 million into New York City’s subways to promote its new wearable device — but the rollout has been met with open hostility from commuters.
The product, called Friend, is a necklace-style gadget designed to listen to your entire day, respond to questions, and even send push notifications to your phone based on conversations you’ve just had. The company, founded by Avi Schiffmann, launched the biggest subway ad blitz in city history, covering 11,000 subway cars, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels.
But instead of sparking excitement, New Yorkers have fought back — with Sharpies. Many of the posters have been defaced with warnings about AI dangers. Messages like “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died”, “Go make real friends, this is surveillance,” and “AI fuels isolation!” have been scrawled across the glossy marketing.
When asked about the backlash, Schiffmann shrugged it off, saying the response was “all according to plan.” He defended the product, noting that it uses Google’s Gemini models and claims to have guardrails against harmful prompts.
Still, skepticism runs deep. The device, which resembles an AirTag necklace, has been mocked as dystopian and invasive. “Friend [noun] someone who listens, responds, and supports you,” one of the campaign’s posters declares. New Yorkers aren’t buying it. One vandal summed up the city’s mood with a simple phrase: “BE A LUDDITE.”
This rejection of wearable AI comes at a time when Americans are increasingly pushing back against tech intrusion. Parents are banning smartphones for kids, schools are locking away devices, and bestsellers like Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation have fueled a nationwide rethink about screen addiction. Surveys show Americans are now twice as likely to believe AI will harm society rather than help it.
Other tech giants are trying their own experiments — Meta with AI glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley, and vague rumors of an OpenAI device in the works. But history hasn’t been kind to these attempts. Google Glass collapsed after only two years. Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse became a punchline. And now, Friend may be next on the chopping block.
The public seems to be drawing a line. After years of social media addiction, algorithmic manipulation, and failed tech fads, many see “Friend” not as a companion — but as a spy.
As one subway vandal put it bluntly: “AI fuels isolation. Reach out into the real world.”
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