Automated Intimacy

This isn’t capitalism’s first loneliness epidemic. But in the 21st century, relationship simulators like Replika are here with the solution: your very own AI lover.

Spaces — Your Personal AI OS

A desktop where AI agents are first-class citizens. Local-first. AI-native.

Digital Science on Twitter / X

An AI-native workspace that already knows your project?The new Papers AI from Digital Science keeps your drafts, data & references together, so the AI assistant has full context of your work - instead of starting fresh each time. 👉 Available now: https://t.co/DNcG173GDk… pic.twitter.com/FQWxdfKfS4— Digital Science (@digitalsci) August 4, 2026

Data privacy concerns in AI companion apps - Surfshark

As AI grows, digital companions help with loneliness but raise questions about user data privacy. Many seek virtual relationships, but it's important to remember they are business-driven, not personal bonds.

AI experienced through AI co-created tools

AI co-created tools and social spaces as a new medium

Loveloop - AI-Powered Relationship App

365+ daily tasks, psychological assessments, mini-games, and real-time partner synchronization

Digital Spaces Directory | New_ Public

As the social media landscape changes and a new wave of digital spaces emerges, this Directory is meant to be a resource for our field — a jumping-off-point for further exploration and research for anyone who’s interested in studying, building, stewarding, or simply using digital social platforms. We hope this will inspire creative exploration, spark new collaborations, and highlight important progress.

Thoughts on Cyberpositionality: The Construction of Digital Communities in Digital Spaces, Damien Patrick Williams

I found Rebecca Monteleone, Martin Perez Comisso, and Elma Hajric’s “Cyberpositionality: Sociotechnical Location in the Digital Age” (2024) to be an extremely timely and important article which can…

AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans | Melanie Mitchell | Substack

I write about interesting new developments in AI. Click to read AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans, by Melanie Mitchell, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

Building privacy into Kin, and personal AI — Kin

Part 4 of 4 in the series

Reading List: AI and the Future of Human Autonomy

Open-source reading list from a discussion group hosted by the Liberty Fund

Alexander Obenauer

Exploring new and renewed ideas for how personal computing and the interfaces we think with can better serve people’s lives – expanding opportunity, agency, curiosity, and creativity.

Reality Roundtable #20 — Hacking Human Attachment: The Loneliness Crisis, Cognitive Atrophy, and Other Personal Dangers of AI - The Great Simplification

Mainstream conversations about artificial intelligence tend to center around the technology’s economic and large-scale impacts. Yet it’s at the individual level where we’re seeing AI’s most potent effects, and they may not be what you think. Even in the limited time that AI chatbots have been publicly available (like Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.), studies show that our increasing reliance on them wears down our ability to think and communicate effectively, and even erodes our capacity to nurture healthy attachments to others. In essence, AI is atrophying the skills that sit at the core of what it means to be human. Can we as a society pause to consider the risks this technology poses to our well-being, or will we keep barreling forward with its development until it’s too late?

Moll on Twitter / X

I love posts like this so much. And it’s true - I think the best, most interesting results come specifically from a connection that isn’t «user and AI», but a human and his partner in thought.When a person simply uses a tool, they essentially remain alone. But when there are… https://t.co/InRvY56631— Moll (@Moleh1ll) June 28, 2026

Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Three Fresh Ideas

Human-Centered AI (HCAI) is a promising direction for designing AI systems that support human self-efficacy, promote creativity, clarify responsibility, and facilitate social participation. These human aspirations also encourage consideration of privacy, security, environmental protection, social justice, and human rights. This commentary reverses the current emphasis on algorithms and AI methods, by putting humans at the center of systems design thinking, in effect, a second Copernican Revolution. It offers three ideas: (1) a two-dimensional HCAI framework, which shows how it is possible to have both high levels of human control AND high levels of automation, (2) a shift from emulating humans to empowering people with a plea to shift language, imagery, and metaphors away from portrayals of intelligent autonomous teammates towards descriptions of powerful tool-like appliances and tele-operated devices, and (3) a three-level governance structure that describes how software engineering teams can develop more reliable systems, how managers can emphasize a safety culture across an organization, and how industry-wide certification can promote trustworthy HCAI systems. These ideas will be challenged by some, refined by others, extended to accommodate new technologies, and validated with quantitative and qualitative research. They offer a reframe -- a chance to restart design discussions for products and services -- which could bring greater benefits to individuals, families, communities, businesses, and society.