Great write-up. I wish Tech -- or the people legislating Tech -- shared the belief that "a mindset of 'thoughtful innovation' must replace the old Wild West attitude." Very concerned with a provision in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill (kill me) that would effectively end AI regulation for *10 years*: https://www.publicnotice.co/p/reconciliation-bill-ai-regulation-cruz-trump
100%, and we absolutely should be ageist about it. Most companies have forced retirement at 60 / 65 for their C-suite executives. We could take the logic behind why we have a minimum age for members of Congress and the President to justify implementing a maximum age.
Reading this felt like flipping through some of my own unpublished notes. I’ve been diving deep into this for the past year because I’m planning to stay in media/entertainment after business school to help solve this loneliness epidemic.
One area I’ve been especially drawn to is digital humans; I group AI chatbots, avatars, and AR/VR characters under that umbrella. With the explosion of platforms like Character.AI and Replika (which you highlighted), I think this format of entertainment is here to stay. Cos people are using them not just for companionship but also for narrative-based entertainment — like simulating conversations with fictional characters.
There’s a real tension here: on one hand, these tools make some users feel more connected but by bypassing the natural friction and growth that come with human relationships, they may be subtly rewiring how we relate to each other in real life.
Great write-up. I wish Tech -- or the people legislating Tech -- shared the belief that "a mindset of 'thoughtful innovation' must replace the old Wild West attitude." Very concerned with a provision in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill (kill me) that would effectively end AI regulation for *10 years*: https://www.publicnotice.co/p/reconciliation-bill-ai-regulation-cruz-trump
Thank you for the kind words! And yes, I worry about our ability to effectively regulate AI at the federal level.
I hate to get ageist about it, but I will: we cannot keep electing people too old to understand Gmail, let alone an AI space evolving by the week
100%, and we absolutely should be ageist about it. Most companies have forced retirement at 60 / 65 for their C-suite executives. We could take the logic behind why we have a minimum age for members of Congress and the President to justify implementing a maximum age.
Garrett, we NEED to talk!
Reading this felt like flipping through some of my own unpublished notes. I’ve been diving deep into this for the past year because I’m planning to stay in media/entertainment after business school to help solve this loneliness epidemic.
One area I’ve been especially drawn to is digital humans; I group AI chatbots, avatars, and AR/VR characters under that umbrella. With the explosion of platforms like Character.AI and Replika (which you highlighted), I think this format of entertainment is here to stay. Cos people are using them not just for companionship but also for narrative-based entertainment — like simulating conversations with fictional characters.
There’s even this YouTube video where someone just flirts with characters on Character AI, and it’s racked up 1M+ views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCRQfm9wSH8.
There’s a real tension here: on one hand, these tools make some users feel more connected but by bypassing the natural friction and growth that come with human relationships, they may be subtly rewiring how we relate to each other in real life.
Would love to connect and swap notes!
great piece Garrett!