Daniela Amodei warns against AI girlfriends, Business Insider reports

Anthropic president Daniela Amodei has warned that AI romantic partners risk driving people further apart, Business Insider reported. She spoke in a prerecorded interview with Arianna Huffington, founder and chief executive of Thrive Global. It was made for the Think Health conference in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Friday.

“I think that’s a terrible use of AI and people should not do it.” Daniela Amodei, Anthropic president, to Arianna Huffington

AI relationships, Amodei said, are “another step further down the road of disintermediation of humans being further from one another.”

What social media did

Amodei said her concerns come from what she sees as the damage social media has done to human relationships. Platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have increasingly replaced face-to-face contact, she said. Online arguments have taken the place of in-person communities.

“What it’s led to is a warranted skepticism from people that technology can be used to bring us closer together.” Daniela Amodei

It would “probably be a better world”, she said, if people spent less time with technology and more time with each other.

‘Claude can never be your partner’

Later in the interview, Amodei said some relationships should stay human, however advanced AI becomes.

“Claude can never be your manager or your therapist or your partner.” Daniela Amodei, on Anthropic’s chatbot

Those are “fundamental human relationships” that she thinks “will become more important”, she added.

She wants AI to take over repetitive or isolating tasks instead, leaving people more time for friends, family and partners. She gave healthcare as an example. AI tools could help doctors find medical information faster, she said, so they can spend more time with patients.

Companion apps and Claude’s rules

Apps such as Replika, Nomi and Character.AI let users build relationships with personalised chatbots. Character.AI filed for bankruptcy this week.

Last week, Anthropic updated Claude’s usage policy with new clauses on deceptive campaigns, weapons and surveillance, Business Insider reported. One new provision bans roleplay between the model and minors. The policy takes effect on 12 November.

Anthropic told investors this week that it made $16.8bn in revenue in the third quarter. It is preparing to go public, possibly as soon as November.