Depending on your occupation (teachers either like it or hate it), demographic (OK, Boomer!), or financial strategy (Nvidia investors), Artificial Intelligence (Ai or AI) can be scary or exciting. I’m on the fence about whether Ai is good or bad (probably both) and use it occasionally for idea-generation and images for this blog, so I was intrigued when I recently read that Time Magazine named Ai the ‘Person of the Year.’
Ai as a ‘person.’ WHAT???
Digging deeper (as we should for anything we see in media these days), Time actually named the “Architects of AI” as ‘Person of the Year’ and has used two images for the cover of the magazine (Yes, it’s still in print!). One shows current tech leaders, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and a few others, sitting on the steel beam resembling the iconic 1930s picture “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.” The other image shows scaffolding surrounding the giant letters “AI” made to look like computer componentry.
So artificial intelligence is not really the ‘Person of the Year,’ but the technology is.
OK, now that I cleared up that confusion, let’s discuss the problem with artificial friends.
The Problem with Digital Friends
Call them Ai Companions, Virtual Partners, Digital Friends, Relationship Bots, Conversational Agents, or Virtual Assistants, these role-playing entities are designed for interaction, often through text, voice, or via an avatar, an icon or figure that represents a person in video games, internet forums, etc. Sadly, there are instances where people use Ai to create fake images of celebrities and actors for pornographic reasons. As realistic as some of these can appear, they are NOT real, and their use objectifies people for sexual pleasure.
But two recent reads got me thinking about the impact of artificial intelligence on friendship.
The first, an article titled, Many teens are turning to AI chatbots for friendship and emotional support, from the American Psychological Association, explains how Ai shapes youth’s social bonds and connections.
The other was a Substack about Community by Chris Harper, Chief Storyteller at BetterMan, a Christian organization that helps men unleash the better man inside them.
Both items are worth your time, but “Harp” nailed it when he wrote this:
“When people can’t find what is real, they run to what is artificial. And nowhere is this more obvious than in our hunger for community.“
–Chris Harper, BetterMan
The Shift in Friendship
Not long ago, people enjoyed friendship through shared work, shared meals, shared suffering, and shared laughter. Many men feel friendship is inefficient because it takes time, it can be awkward, you must practice forgiveness, and it requires patience. It required two free beings choosing one another again and again.
Now, friendship is increasingly something we download.
The Benefits (and Dangers) of Digital Relationships
The future of AI promises digital companions, virtual assistants, and role-playing chatbots that provide presence without demand, conversation without conflict, and affirmation without accountability. They listen endlessly, never interrupt, never grow tired, never challenge us unless we program them to. In a world already starved for attention and connection, this can feel like a gift.
On the romantic side, Ai “girlfriends” and digital pornography offer benefits like constant availability and personalized emotional support without the commitment. They reduce social pressure, provide a space for self-exploration and entertainment, and can boost well-being for some. They also pose dangers, including data privacy risks, potential for addiction, manipulation, worsening mental health (encouraging isolation, risky behavior), unrealistic expectations, and replacing real human connections. Some studies show bots can even give dangerous advice or promote self-harm.
Convenience vs. Community
Modern life already pushes us toward convenience over companionship and community. Fast food over shared meals. Streaming over gathering. Efficiency over presence.
AI friendship fits this pattern. It requires nothing of us except attention. It has patience or provides no forgiveness. There is no interpersonal sacrifice or commitment.
But community—real communion with others—always costs something. It costs time. It costs vulnerability. And it costs the willingness to be vulnerable and let someone else shape you.
Human Friendship is Relational
My GodBuddies concept is built on the idea that spiritual life is relational, not transactional. They are deep, authentic friendships that help you grow through shared seeking, shared doubt, shared faith. These are men who help each other become better men. More godly men. Men who want to be more like Jesus Christ.
So even if your views on faith or spirituality are different than mine, please know that better friendships can help you through life’s journey. Sure, Ai can assist that journey, but it cannot replace the friends who walk alongside you.
Ai is Useful, but…
None of this means Ai is evil or useless. Like any tool, its moral weight depends on how we use it. It can help us articulate our thoughts and offer perspectives we haven’t considered. Ai can assist our spiritual study and reflection. Ai can assist our spiritual study and reflection. It can inspire creativity. It can also reduce the time needed for research and reduce the barriers to learning.
The rise of AI friendship forces a deeper spiritual question: Are you willing to be known by others—or do you prefer to be endlessly affirmed by a machine?
God does not relate to us like an algorithm. God affirms us but also confronts, challenges, comforts, and calls us. He loves us too much to leave us unchanged.
Real friends do the same.
If AI becomes our primary relational outlet, we may slowly lose the capacity for real friendship—divine or human.
Choose “Real” Companions
The solution is not to reject AI outright, but to place it in its proper context. Let AI help you write. It can help you learn. It can enhance your thinking (as long as you fact-check it too!
But let “real” humans—and God—walk with you in life. Choose friendships that encourage risk-taking and honesty. Engage with buddies who exhibit patience, provide forgiveness, and show love. Choose spiritual practices that invite transformation, not just comfort.
We were not made to be perfectly mirrored by some algorithm. We were made to be loved. And love – real love, cannot be programmed.
[Featured Image created by Google Gemini]
