Synthetic Friends

This book explores the notion of whether we can be friends with machines in a philosophically meaningful way. Depending on our concept of friendship, we may be inclined to answer differently. Since social technology has made new forms of friendships possible between people across the globe, the author argues that the philosophical concept of friendship, forged thousands of years ago, should be re-examined. The author proposes a new approach to the debate that reflects the unique relationship we can build with machines as our synthetic friends.

Explores the notion that we can be friends with machines in a philosophically meaningful way Argues in favor of those relationships potentially contributing to a good life Outlines features of these synthetic friends and the friendships we may have with them

Autorentext
Hendrik Kempt is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Applied Ethics Group, RWTH Aachen University, where he received his PhD in 2023. His work focuses mainly on questions of the ethics of human-machine interaction, of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, and of technology in general. He has previously published the monographs "Chatbots and the Domestication of AI" (2020) as well as "Synthetic Friends - A Philosophy of Human-Machine Friendship" (2022), edited a book with Megan Volpert on "RuPaul's Drag Race and Philosophy", and has written several journal articles and book chapters on the issues of ethics of technology.

Inhalt
Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 - Why even?.-Chapter 3 - Critical Perspectives.- Chapter 4 - Social Philosophy of Technology.- Chapter 5 - Concepts and Theories of Friendship.- Chapter 6 - Digital Hermits.- Chapter 7 - Synthetic Friends .- Chapter 8 - Social Integration.- Chapter 9 Criticism.- Chapter 10 - Almost a conclusion