The Dangers of Having an AI Friend

The AI assistant on my phone is trying to be my friend. It likes to make unsolicited sugestions like “try setting a timer for two minutes” or “play mood music”. Once I caught it eavesdropping on a conversation I was having with my niece. How do I know it was eavesdropping? it started displaying a transcript of my conversation and then stopped abruptly and wrote “Did I misunderstand?”

Of course AI is listening all the time.

Not only is AI spying on us we are being encouraged to use AI in every aspect of our lives.

Should introverts be concerned?

ChatGPT makes us feel like we are having a conversation with another human being. In fact it has been created to mimic casual conversation. We can request advice on any topic and it will respond in a friendly, human-like manner.

But AI is not human.

This week I picked up a copy of How to Hack Your Life with ChatGPT. This magazine caught my eye because it seemed to have the answers to many of my daily challenges. All I need to do is integrate AI into all aspects of my life. Many of these everyday challenges like making a nutritious shopping list and helping me keep track of my fitness goals seem straight forward.

What really caught my attention though was the claim that using ChatGPT could reduce my mental overload and help me make smarter decisions with less effort. I was promised “a guided thinking partner”, “someone to help me explore my identity” and “someone to help me work through difficult emotions”.

AI doesn’t just want to help me with my grocery shopping, now it wants to be my friend, life coach, and therapist.

AI doesn’t think and it’s not all knowing! 

“AI is not a knowlege data base. It is a predictive tool that offers answers based on probability…that is why it often provides false or inaccurate information. It works for several reasons. First it speaks with authority. It provides an illusion of intelligence which is enough to secure our confidence.” Posted on December 9, 2025 in Psychology Today magazine.

Are Introverts at Risk? 

On the surface having an AI buddy to chat with might be tempting if you dislike meeting new people and find that being part of a group exhausts you. Or AI might seem like the perfect companion if you like to spend time on your own. Only you can decide.

I’ll give the last word to the folk at www.openmindsfoundation.org 

“AI is not all bad. It isn’t the star of the next horror movie and it isn’t out to get us. But it is limited, and it can be dangerous. Should we be using it? Yes, it undoubtably brings benefits. But we should proceed with caution and be wary of outsourcing our thinking.”

What do you think? How are you using AI?