Book on friendships amid AI era launched in Chennai

A book examining friendship and well-being among young people in the age of Artificial Intelligence was launched in Chennai on Wednesday at a private school in Kilpauk.

Titled Friendship as Well-being in the AI Era: New Models of Youth Accompaniment, the book was authored by Fr. John Alexander SDB. It was released by Fr. Felix Raj, Vice-Chancellor of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, with the first copy presented to Antoon Vandevelde, Professor Emeritus, University of Leuven, Belgium, and Sashi Kumar, Chairman of the Asian College of Journalism.

As a part of the book, findings from a nationwide study involving 4,527 young people across 24 States were also released.

According to the study, 76.8% of respondents said they experienced loneliness despite being surrounded by friends, while 88.5% considered friendship essential to their well-being. It also found that 58.6% lacked deep emotional connections, 54.8% felt misunderstood and 50.3% believed their emotional needs were unmet.

The study revealed that nearly 85% of respondents reported using ChatGPT as a friend, while 35.7% had used Artificial Intelligence to seek advice. However, meaningful friendships continued to be formed primarily through schools, colleges, neighbourhoods, and other face-to-face communities.

A discussion was moderated by Joshua Madan, Chief Executive Officer of Covenant Group, featuring the author of the book and Sashi Kumar. The discussion stressed the importance of nurturing friendships, and verifying information.