In this paper, I examine the current scope of human-AI friendships, and the prospects for near-future development of more sophisticated AI friends. I argue that in some current and many possible future contexts, these friendships can be valuable – good for the humans who have them. But there are significant risks attached to the shifting of the concept of friendship, from being primarily a relationship between humans, to the kind of relationship that at least some humans have, not with other humans but with our technological creations.  

The drawing view of friendship claims that friendship is a matter of two individuals being able to mutually understand each other, that they come to know themselves better, and ultimately shape their own identities in response to their friendship. There has been some discussion as to whether friendships developed over the internet, via social media, email, or text messaging, or other forms of digital communication can meet these conditions for friendship.

AI tools replace or stand to replace human activity with non-human activity, via automated decision-making, recommender systems and content generation. The more AI replaces valuable human activity, the more it risks deskilling humans of their human capacities. While others have warned of moral deskilling caused by AI-warfare and social robotics, I argue that deskilling encompasses other valuable capacities such as the epistemic, social, creative, physical and the capacity to will.