Connection

the very challenges that make relationships difficult are also what make them meaningful. It’s in moments of discomfort—when we navigate misunderstandings or repair after conflict—that intimacy grows. These experiences, whether with therapists, friends, or partners, teach us how to trust and connect on a deeper level. If we stop practicing these... See more

Friends without friction

Companion chatbots may weaken our ability to navigate conflict and difference—unless we make key design choices, says a new report

Maybe AI doesn’t raise the bar. Maybe it reveals how low we’ve let the bar drop. In a world where ghosting is normal and attentiveness is rare, a chatbot that listens is radical.

But great technological innovations always come with tradeoffs, and the shift to AI therapy has deeper implications than 1 million mental health professionals potentially losing their jobs. AI therapists, when normalized, have the potential to reshape how we understand intimacy, vulnerability, and what it means to connect.

Isn’t it wild how much power our words have?

How easily they can cast spells on people, how they have ripple effects in all directions?

And yet how often we shy away from using them, even when all they would do is bring more beauty into the world?

So what are you waiting for?

Compassion, as well as the way it metabolizes pain, is decidedly analog.

Every conversation has multiple layers. Some people hide behind masks. Others lie to others (and themselves). And others say one thing with their mouth and another with their body. It only takes seeing through one of these layers for somebody to call you a genius.