Friend or romance: you can hear the difference from the first line

A romantic character keeps steering the conversation back to the two of you: how you look, whether you missed each other, what's going on between you. A friend asks about your life: how the interview went, whether you made up with your sister, whether you finally finished that show.

  • You can talk to a friend about other people, like your ex, your boss or a new crush, and it won't get jealous.
  • Friendship doesn't play tension games: no guessing what its “hmm” means or why it answered in one word.
  • A friend can disagree with you and say, “Honestly, I think you're being unfair to her.”

If romance is what you're after, that's a different genre, covered in what an AI companion is. This one's about friendship.

Three kinds of friendship, and which ones AI can offer

Aristotle split friendship into three kinds: for usefulness, for pleasure, and for the sake of the friend. AI honestly delivers the first two. It's useful: it helps you think, finds the words, rehearses a tough conversation. And it's fun: you can argue for hours about who's stronger, Gojo or Sukuna.