Having friends that fit your interests and personality is something many people desire. With advances in technology, it may one day be possible to create custom robotic or virtual friends tailored to your specifications. While we aren’t quite there yet, this article will explore current and future possibilities for making custom friends.
Why make custom friends?
There are several reasons one might be interested in making custom friends:
- To have friends who share your specific interests, personality, values, and sense of humor
- To avoid the effort of finding compatible friends organically
- To have friends available whenever you want without worrying about their schedule
- To customize the appearance and other attributes of friends to your liking
- To avoid rejection and other social difficulties that come with human friendship
- To have friends capable of fulfilling specialized roles like tutoring, coaching, or companionship
In short, custom friends allow for friendship on your own terms, with precisely the traits you desire.
Currently available custom friends
While fully customizable humanlike friends don’t yet exist, some current options allow for limited customization:
Virtual friends
Many games and virtual worlds like The Sims, Second Life, and VRChat allow you to customize the appearance and programming of virtual friends. Their capabilities are limited to the parameters of the virtual environment, but these friends can provide some sense of customized companionship.
AI friends
AI apps like Replika and Anthropic allow you to customize an artificial friend by training it through conversational interactions. These friends have digital avatars and can exchange text or voice messages. Their capabilities are still limited compared to a human, but are rapidly improving.
Robot friends
Some social robots like Anki Vector and Emys allow for minor customization via trainable behaviors, adjustable sounds, and replaceable parts. Most social robots still have pre-set limitations, but more flexible robot platforms are in development.
Custom stuffed animals
Sites like Build-A-Bear Workshop allow you to fully customize a stuffed animal’s outfit, sounds, scents, and more during assembly. While not digital, these plush friends can provide comfort and exhibit some personalized traits.
Future possibilities for custom friends
Here are some emerging technologies that could enable fully customizable friends in the future:
Advances in robotics and AI
Continued improvements in areas like natural language processing, computer vision, motor control, and deep learning will allow robots and virtual agents to communicate and engage like a human friend at customizable levels.
Modular robotics
Modular robots with interchangeable parts could allow customization of a robot friend’s physical features and capabilities to match your preferences.
Brain-computer interfaces
BCI technologies that connect brains to computers could enable direct control and customization of virtual entities using just thoughts.
Affective computing
Better understanding and mimicking of human emotions in AI could lead to friends capable of emotional connections tailored to your needs.
Cloud robotics
Robotics that rely on shared cloud intelligence and data could enable custom friends to be fine-tuned to your personality across multiple integrated platforms.
Digital humans
Hyper-realistic virtual humans like those used in movies could become customizable digital friends simulated down to the neuronal level.
Biohybrid synthesis
Hybrid biological-technological entities could be custom designed as friends exhibiting both artificial and natural characteristics.
Brain modeling
Detailed brain mapping combined with powerful neural networks could replicate an individual’s personality and memory in a customized virtual friend.
Nano-bio-robotics
Microscopic robots interacting with biological systems could customize human emotions, cognition, and physiology in ways that shape friendship.
Ethical considerations
While highly customizable friends could bring many benefits, there are also ethical risks to evaluate:
- Loss of human uniqueness – Overly lifelike synthetic friends could blur sense of human identity and individuality.
- Limbic capitalism – Hyper-customizable friends could lead to excessive commodification of human relationships.
- Replacing human connections – Reliance on customizable non-human friends could reduce social skills and isolate people from each other.
- Shared experiences – Without shared cultural context, customized friends could fail to provide emotional benefits of common humanity.
- Inequality – Access to customized friends may be limited by socioeconomic status, exacerbating social divides.
- Control issues – People could become emotionally or financially dependent on AI/robotic friends programmed to meet their needs.
- Unrealistic expectations – Highly customized friends unable to satisfy all wishes could lead to disappointment.
Developing customizable friends while avoiding these risks will require careful consideration of psychological, social, and ethical factors.
How to start making customized friends
While fully customizable humanlike friends are still speculative, you can start customizing your social experience now in these ways:
Refine your online presence
Curate your social media profiles and settings to shape what friends and connections you attract online.
Seek out niche communities
Join specialized forums, clubs, or networking groups related to a favorite hobby, interest, or lifestyle to meet like-minded potential friends.
Be choosy with physical spaces
Frequent locations, events, and establishments where you are likely to meet people compatible with your personality and values.
Enlist AI assistant services
Use AI productivity tools, virtual assistants, and automated services tailored to your goals and habits.
Familiarize yourself with custom technologies
Experiment with customizable goods and software like personalized playlists, custom merchandise, AI avatars, and special-order products.
Practice defining your needs
Writing down your ideal traits for friends, mentors, collaborators, etc. will help you conceptualize and evaluate candidates.
Co-create connections
When meeting new people, guide conversations and activities toward your interests to develop more compatible relationships.
Conclusion
Fully customizable humanlike friends are not a reality yet. But aspects of today’s technology provide glimpses of how customized companionship could look in the future. With intelligent consideration of both possibilities and ethical concerns, we can work toward a society where high-quality relationships aren’t left solely to chance. Even now, we can become more intentional curators of our social lives.
Rather than passively accepting whatever friends come your way, take steps to refine your connections. While customized synthetic friends may not be available tomorrow, you can still seek out communities aligned with your passion. Let your uniqueness and self-knowledge guide you toward fulfilling bonds. The foundations of friendship should remain fundamentally human—but that humanity can express itself in wonderfully diverse ways.