Everything is weird

On AI friends and the politics of normalcy

From AI pendants promising eternal friendship to political strategists wielding the word “weird,” this week left many of us questioning where to draw the line between brilliance and absurdity.

The friend zone: AI edition

Avi Schiffmann, the 21-year-old wunderkind behind the first global COVID-19 tracker, has unveiled his latest venture: an AI-powered pendant called “Friend.” It’s always listening, always ready to chat, and never needs to be fed or walked. The promo video is a masterclass in tech utopianism, showing people living their best lives while chatting with their throbbing necklace, seemingly unfazed by the implications of constant AI companionship. 

But why did this launch fall flat? Is it the product itself, or the disconnect between Silicon Valley’s vision of the future and the public’s readiness to embrace it? Or just a bunch of people jockeying to be the best hater? Adam Whitcroft summed up the evolving discourse: “How did we go from “this isn’t for me” to “I hope this fails” and registering a domain and building a site to mock something.”

The video, in its attempt to normalize AI integration into intimate aspects of our lives, inadvertently highlighted our collective unease about the role of tech in human relationships. As Charlota put it: “The AI Friend is kind of like the hardware version of LinkedIn’s open-to-work profile badge - signaling the complete opposite than it intended to.” In our quest to solve loneliness through technology, we may be signaling our desperation rather than our innovation. Either way, it seems that in our rush to create the next big AI thing, we’ve neglected to nail down how to talk about these products in a way that doesn’t make us all collectively cringe. 

Amidst the eye-rolling and Twitter snark, some say that Friend might actually serve a purpose. In a world where loneliness is on the rise (one in three Americans feels lonely every week, with younger people most affected), maybe an AI buddy isn’t the worst idea? (Or should we not encourage lonely people to develop parasocial relationships with AI? You decide!)  

Google Gemini: Not sticking the landing

Earlier, Google showcased its Gemini AI assistant in an Olympic ad that further exemplified the tech industry’s struggle to effectively communicate AI’s role in our lives. The premise? A father uses Gemini to help his daughter write a fan letter to an Olympic athlete. Because nothing says “heartfelt admiration” like outsourcing your child’s emotions to an AI. The internet’s collective response? “Thanks, hate it.” 

There’s something profoundly unsettling about outsourcing a child’s enthusiasm to an algorithm. As Sydney Battle tweeted, “Does that not take 99% of the ethos and feeling out of one of the most heartfelt concepts known to man? ... It should be written by her own hand in the imperfect, pure language of childhood adoration.” (In response, Google pulled the ad.) 

I can almost imagine the thought process here: OK, people love children, they love the Olympics… but kids aren’t supposed to use AI without supervision, so… we need a parent… a dad… and then losing the plot. This backlash isn’t just about preserving the sanctity of handwritten letters. It’s about our discomfort with the AI encroaching on the realms of human emotion and expression. Also, aren’t there better uses for this stuff? (See also: Chris Martz’s alt ideas for the Friend launch promo.) 

A new generation of extremely online politicians

Meanwhile, in the political arena, we’re continuing to witness a generational shift in communication strategies. The Harris campaign has adopted “weird” as their weapon of choice against opponents, particularly JD Vance. This pivot from “No malarkey” to “That’s weird, bro” isn’t just a linguistic update—it’s a strategic attempt to connect with younger voters and reframe political discourse.

As Max Steele puts it: “Stuff like this is why comms is universally considered by all other departments as the smartest, best looking, and most important part of the operation, carrying everyone else on our backs.” Abby Diebold added: “it’s almost like comms is a professional skill and adapting your voice to the candidate and the moment is part of that skill!!!” Shout out to comms teams everywhere. 

A tale of two press releases (@maxasteele on X)

The generational divide between Kamala (b. 1964) and DJ (b. 1984) adds another layer: While Kamala’s team can craft her online persona from the past 20 years of her professional life, DJ’s digital footprint stretches back to his college days, making him vulnerable to the internet’s long memory. His old blog posts, podcast quotes, and… Venmo requests are coming back to haunt him faster than you can say “why does couch autofill when I type JD Vance into Google?” It’s a reminder that your past is just a Google search away. (Note to self: Time for another social media purge.) Add this to the bucket of: Things That Will Only Get Worse.

Yikes. (The Pokemon one is pretty bleak.)

Keep weird…weird?

But as “weird” becomes the go-to descriptor for everything from political opponents to cutting-edge tech, we risk diluting its cultural cache. When everything is weird, nothing is. As my wonderful fiancé posted on Threads: “‘Keep Portland weird’ used to mean something.” And in this brave new world of AI companions and meme-driven political campaigns, what even constitutes “normal” anymore?

Perhaps the real challenge is in navigating a world where the boundaries between human and machine, normal and weird, are increasingly blurred. Maybe we should aspire to be a little weirder, a little bolder, and a lot more critical of the narratives being sold to us—whether they’re coming from Silicon Valley or the campaign trail. Stay weird.

—Carly

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Links

• Doug Emhoff is ushering in a new era of “wife guy”

• Flavor Flav is doing what anyone with millions burning a hole in their pockets should do. NYT’s Vanessa Friedman writes: “Flavor Flav, a founding member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy, is also, as it happens, the main sponsor of the U.S. women’s water polo team. Apparently the rapper was so shocked when he learned that members of the team worked two or even three jobs to pay for their athletic pursuits that he pledged to support them for the next five years.”

• Ilona Maher, the U.S. women’s rugby sevens center, is having an excellent Olympic season.

• Kelin found the muffin.

• Public.Work from Cosmos, is a search engine for public domain content

• Jon Lax on The Relentless Inevitable: “Value is always in motion and hand wringing over it is wasted energy. Arguing whether technology can replicate “taste” or “creativity” isn’t important. Over time it will be able to do both.”

• A new branding column from Fast Company’s Grace Snelling

• Writing tip from Tao Lin: “Writing advice: Be careful when writing and listening to music. You might think your writing is poignant/effective when it’s actually the music that is making you feel emotional.”

• Loved the response to last week’s newsletter. Ruby Justice ran with it:

  Can Memes Win an Election?

Pitches

• Jon Victor is covering enterprise AI at The Information. Tips on Oracle, Salesforce, Databricks, and Snowflake are welcome. DMs are open.

• Maybelle Morgan is seeking pitches on flexible working.

• Levi Elle Winslow is looking for freelance writers knowledgeable about memes, internet personalities, and streamers for Complex.

• Kimberley Bond has joined Harper’s Bazaar UK as a lifestyle and culture writer. Seeking career experts, TV/film releases, exhibitions, and monthly culture content.

• Conz Preti is accepting pitches on parenting, health, relationships, and retirement for Business Insider.