If you haven’t already heard of Friend, the company that makes a $129 wearable AI companion—a plastic disk, containing a microphone, on a necklace—you probably also have not seen Friend’s recent ad campaign. Late this past summer, Friend paid $1 million to plaster more than 10,000 white posters throughout the New York City subway system with messages such as I’ll binge the entire series with you.

People hate these billboards. Revile them, even. Across the city, the ads are covered in graffiti criticizing the pendant (it doesn’t have eyes, bruh; CRINGE) as well as the idea of AI altogether (AI wouldn’t care if you lived or died); some vandals invite you to befriend a senior citizen instead of a chatbot, or volunteer with a community garden—you will meet cool people! Many of the ads have be

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