Zuckerberg's Grand Vision: Most of Your Friends Will Be AI

Overall reaction to “Most of your friends will be AI”

• Widespread disbelief and rejection: many say “no they won’t” or that they’d “rather be lonely.”
• Strong sense that Zuckerberg doesn’t understand what friendship is, despite running a huge social network.
• Some frame it as him projecting his own life: shielded, mistrustful of people, comfortable with algorithmic relationships.

Algorithms, addiction, and misreading user behavior

• Several argue Zuckerberg mistakes high engagement for user liking their feeds; they see it more like addiction (compared to cigarettes or casinos).
• Feeds are described as low-quality, irrelevant, and often enraging; people use them compulsively, not joyfully.
• Comments note a metrics-obsessed corporate culture: if time-on-site goes up, leadership believes users are happy, ignoring qualitative misery (likened to the McNamara fallacy).

Business motives and ethical concerns

• Many view this as an ad and data play: turn “friendship” itself into a monetizable product rather than an ad slot between humans.
• Meta is likened to Purdue Pharma: convincing itself it’s helping while inflicting large-scale social harm.
• Users report invasive rollout of “Meta AI” in WhatsApp groups with no real opt-out, prompting switches to Signal.

Can AI be a friend?

• Some concede many people already chat with LLMs like friends and that longer memories will increase attachment.
• Others argue real friendship includes unpredictability, genuine moods, and non-manipulative reciprocity; an AI tuned for engagement can only simulate this via manipulation.
• Concerns that AI “yes-agents” will deepen echo chambers and social isolation.

Do adults need friends?

• One commenter questions whether adults even need friends beyond partners, colleagues, and family; most others push back hard.
• They cite social science and personal experience: strong social connections correlate with better mental and physical health.
• Overreliance on a single partner is seen as risky; isolation is linked to deteriorating mental health and higher male suicide risk.

Broader cultural critique

• Thread laments that socially awkward, profit-driven technologists ended up shaping global social life.
• Some note that in the fuller interview, Zuckerberg frames AI as helping people make real friends, but listeners still feel he fundamentally misreads human needs.