This talk was recorded at NDC Manchester in Manchester, England. 
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In a world where loneliness is an epidemic and human connection feels increasingly elusive, could artificial intelligence be the answer – Are ‘friends’ truly electric?”

In 1979 synth-pop legend Gary Numan asked the question in his number one hit song: ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ Inspired by Philip K. Dick’s sci-fi novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” (1968), later adapted into the iconic sci-fi film “Blade Runner” (1982). In that dystopian future, replicants—synthetic humans—laboured as slaves evolved, rebelled, and were pursued by humans to bring order.

For centuries, we have been captivated by the potential of creating and interacting with synthetic ‘friends’—from the chess-playing Mechanical Turk of 1770 to today’s AI-driven companions. Once a staple of science fiction, the idea of electric companions is now a tangible reality. But what does this mean for our understanding of friendship, love, and humanity itself?

45 years after Numan asked us to imagine a world in which we would have our needs, wants and desires catered for by mechanised ‘friends’, have we moved from mere sci-fiction fantasy to a new dawn of human/synth relationships with the growth and development of robotics and AI.

Under the guidance of a digital anthropologist with a specialism in cybersecurity and tackling the digital divide, this talk explores our cultural fascination with replicating not only the human form and character traits but also the human condition. And how AI entities and robotics have, and how they will in the future, transform our interactions with machines and ourselves.

This talk explores the cultural, emotional, and societal impact of AI ‘friends.’ Will they enhance connection—or rewrite humanity itself?

In this talk, you will be challenged to consider:

Culture: What is culture and can electric ‘friends’ truly grasp the richness of human culture, or will they merely mimic it? Will electric ‘friends’ create their own culture or are they only capable of a facsimile of culture based on billions of human data points?

Emotions: Are love, creativity, and heartache exclusive to humans, or can electric companions experience these emotions?

Companionship: Could these electric friends, be better for us than human friends? Will they increase or decrease social isolation? Will we become dependent on electric friends?

Dust off Donna Haraway’s ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’, turn up the stereo and turn on your friend as we ask: ARE ‘friends’ truly going to be electric?

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AI companions like Replika are evolving from simple chatbots into sophisticated emotional support systems that mimic human relationships. While they offer benefits for loneliness, mental health support, and neurodivergent users, they raise serious ethical concerns: they reinforce biases, lack reciprocity, encourage narcissism, monetize intimacy, and collect deeply personal data without adequate privacy protections. These systems don't truly understand or feel—they mirror our desires and flaws. The emotional investment users develop is real, even when the relationship isn't, leading to genuine grief when features change or systems fail. As we become increasingly entangled with AI companions, we risk devaluing messy human connections in favor of predictable simulations, potentially losing our humanity in the process.

Are ‘Friends’ Electric?: What It Means to Be Human Now and Tomorrow in the Age of AI - Lianne Potter