Notice Board

The Department of Philosophy Colloquium Series presents:

"When to Swipe Left on AI: Testing LLMs against Aristotle’s criteria for true friendship"

Speaker: Jason Breen (Department of Philosophy)
Monday, Nov. 24  | 12:30 - 2 p.m.
University Hall B716

Abstract: Aristotle writes that “it is not possible to have friendship toward inanimate things” (NE VIII.2, 1155b27–33). Yet when Replika removed its romantic role-play features in 2023–2024, thousands of users reported grief and disorientation, describing the change as “losing a partner overnight.” What are we to make of this apparent contradiction? Humans clearly form emotional attachments to chatbots, but can these chatbots truly be considered friends? If so, in what ways can they fulfill that role?

I argue that AI companions such as Replika may simulate some forms of friendship, but they cannot satisfy Aristotle’s criteria for genuine friendship because they lack intrinsic valuation and the capacity for reciprocal concern. Transformer architectures can simulate attention, but reinforcement learning grounds only instrumental optimization, not the mutual recognition required for friendship.The stakes extend beyond personal wellbeing. For Aristotle, friendship is also a civic virtue that sustains democratic life through reciprocity, shared recognition, and co-deliberation. When citizens form attachments to entities that cannot reciprocate, they may habituate to one-sided, low-demand relationships. This weakens the dispositions needed for civic friendship and encourages governments and platforms to substitute cheap AI solutions for more human and expensive forms of civic education and participation.