Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has predicted a future where AI will understand you so well that different AI personalities will become your “friends”.
In a new interview with Podcaster Dorkesh Patel, Zuckerberg said he believes “the average person wants maximum connection, is more concerned about what he has,” and thinks that trained AI -chat boats can help fill this void.
Zuckerberg told Patel, “I think, the average American, less than three friends, three people they will consider, and the average person is mostly demanding, I think it’s like 15 friends.” (They were probably referring to a survey from the 2023 Pew Research Center, which found that 40 % of Americans say they have three or less friends, while 38 % have five or more.)
Zuckerberg says AI has the opportunity to fill this gap.
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Although he said that AI will not change personally or real -life contacts, it can help people feel lonely. He added that consumers are already tapped in the AI for preparation preparation for difficult conversations with people in their lives, and other companies are already presenting AI purse as virtual therapists and romantic partners.
Zuckerberg said in a separate podcast with analyst Ben Thomson last week, “For those who do not have a physician, I think everyone will have AI.”
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However, not everyone is with “friends” and social media users criticized Zuckerberg for their comments.
Author Neil Trichts writes on X that Zuckerberg’s point of view “is the same when you believe that humanity is low in binary data – you think about friendship with the lens of supply and demand.”
Other consumers questioned whether AI friends would tell humans to vote and believe, while another meta evolution was found in 2006 with friends in 2026 to connect to contact with “imaginary friends”.
There was a lot of hope, writing that he “wanted an AI friend.”
Carollen Rogers, head of the Marketing of Agency Blocks, wrote on X that the next step will begin recommending products for AI friends, which will help Meta to monitor this friendship.
2006 – Join Facebook to connect with my friends
2026 – Join Facebook to connect with your imaginary friends– WRLB? (@WRLB2) May 1st, 2025
Zuckerberg’s comments arrived when Meta released the Standstone Meta AI app to compete with Openai’s Chattagpat, Google’s Gemini, and ZK Grook last week.
Zuckerberg has revealed the app’s release in an Instagram video that about one billion people use MetaAI globally in company apps such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Related: Meta standstone confronts Chattgop by releasing the AIAP: ‘a long trip’
