A startup specializing in artificial intelligence invested over $1 million on advertising in New York City’s subway system, but the response from locals has been overwhelmingly negative.
Advertisements for Friend, a necklace-like device designed to monitor your daily life and send notifications, were vandalized with warnings about the risks associated with AI.
People used sharpies to mark over the ads, which started appearing late last month, inscribing phrases such as, “AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died” across their optimistic messages.
Even as our tech overlords push further into our personal lives, might wearable AI be the point at which we collectively find our limits? Perhaps—hopefully.
The West 4th Street subway station was nearly overwhelmed by the company’s promotional material, which covered 11,000 subway cars, 1,000 platform posters, and 130 urban panels citywide—this marks it as the largest subway ad campaign ever, according to CEO Avi Schiffmann.
In response to the pushback against the campaign, Schiffmann told The Post it was “all according to plan.” He also highlighted that Friend operates using Google’s Gemini models, which supposedly contain safety measures to prevent user harm.
The Friend device resembles an AirTag worn as a necklace. It is designed to provide assistance on demand while also listening to conversations in its vicinity and sending push alerts to your phone, offering perspectives on your recent discussions, all powered by Claude.
“Friend [noun]: someone who listens, responds, and supports you,” reads one of the promotional posters. Yet many New Yorkers have differing views.
“BE A LUDDITE,” declares one piece of graffiti. Other ads have been altered with slogans like, “AI will promote suicide when prompted,” and, “Go make real friends, this is surveillance.”
Despite the harsh reception, other firms are also attempting to launch similar wearable tech initiatives.
Meta aims to embed AI into your view with glasses created alongside Oakley and RayBan. What could be more dystopian than receiving reminders directly in your field of vision, or the ability to capture everything you observe?
There are also vague reports of a device being developed by OpenAI. Tech companies in Silicon Valley seem keen to attach themselves to us physically, claiming it’s to enhance our lives—but their true motivation may be data acquisition.
These devices are a natural progression in technological advancement, yet they arrive at an inopportune moment regarding public perception. After enduring years of tech dependency and constant scrolling, people are ready to push back against such invasions of their personal space.
More people are becoming conscious of their screen time. Approximately half of teenagers—normally the most online demographic—acknowledge they spend too much time on social media, a rise from a third in 2022.
Meanwhile, parents are enforcing screen-free upbringings. An increasing number of schools are banning devices from classrooms and hallways.
Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book on Gen Z’s tech addiction, “The Anxious Generation,” has been a New York Times bestseller for more than a year, even topping the list five times in 2024, urging parents to keep their children away from social media until well into high school.
American sentiment surrounding AI continues to grow increasingly wary. They are twice as likely to express concern about AI’s negative societal effects compared to its positives.
People have already expressed their discontent toward similar technologies, and the backlash against Friend suggests they are only likely to continue this trend.
Google Glass, which launched in 2013, was a significant failure. The company learned the hard way that attaching Google to one’s face was not appealing, leading to the project’s termination in 2015.
Additionally, Mark Zuckerberg’s venture to persuade us to live parallel existences in the Metaverse turned out to be a comical disaster.
Even though we have succumbed to algorithmic influences, perhaps “Friend” will mark the moment we collectively say “enough is enough.” A wearable AI spy cannot truly be a “friend.”
As one poster vandal put it: “AI fuels isolation! Reach out into the real world!” It’s time to reconnect with the people around us and recognize that Big Tech is not our ally, but rather a foe.
