Dr. Jill Bruckner

People crave connection:

Whether chatting with colleagues, or confiding in trusted friends, healthy human relationships can power positivity. 

"Good friends are good for your health," says the Mayo Clinic. "Friends can help you celebrate good times and provide support during bad times. Friends prevent isolation and loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too."

 

As the longest-running study of adult well-being, The Harvard Study of Adult Development, (which began in 1938) has found, while physical health and genetics might impact longevity, "relationships" help people thrive. 

 

Maybe that’s why understanding the value of “real-time” relationships has led researchers to question a potential link between Internet-driven isolation and a downturn in connection.
 

Here’s why:

More than 70% of Americans use social media, according to Pew Research Center.

 

Meanwhile, studies suggest the number of people’s “close” companions is declining. Only 13% of people reported having “10 or more close friends,” in 2021 says the 2021 American Perspectives Survey – down from 33% in 1990.
 

Which begs the question:

Is friendship still vital, and how does Artificial Intelligence (AI) perceive “best friends” – the type of friends the American Perspectives Survey says 59 percent of Americans report having?
 

Enter “50 States of Friendship: How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Thinks Best Friends Look in 50 U.S. States and the District of Columbia,” an exercise designed to evaluate AI’s view of human friendship.
 

About this Evaluation:

I used this study to analyze how AI perceived “best friends” at a snapshot in time by a single individual (myself) in October 2023. This is not “landmark” research; and, AI’s views of friendship will change. Nevertheless, the results were interesting.
 

Like many of the anecdotal studies exploring AI’s response to human prompts, this exercise employed a repeated statement, with a single adjustment, to generate distinctive results in Midjourney, a popular AI image-generation tool.
 

In this case, the prompt “Imagine street photography candid best friends in … ” followed by “state name,” (e.g., “Nebraska,” “Wyoming,” “Florida”) was used. I repeated the prompt until I'd completed every state.
 

Midjourney generated four images for each state. Altogether, 204 AI “photos” (four each of 50 states and the District of Columbia) were produced and analyzed.
 

Here’s what I learned:

• Smiles. Nearly every image of “best friends” showed people laughing or smiling. According to HelpGuide, laughter "relaxes the body," and "boosts the immune system." For many of us, laughter is better shared with friends. 
   

• Women outnumbered men. About 33% - 67 images – included what appeared to be men. The remaining 137 images (67%) included images appearing to represent women. A Pew Research Center study on American friendship found "there are only modest differences in the number of close friendships men and women have. Half of men and 55% of women say they have between one and four close friends."
   

• A lack of body diversity among women. Only people appearing to be men were overweight. If an image included what appeared to be a woman, the woman was thin.
   

• Long hair on women. The majority of women were pictured with long (shoulder length or longer) hair.
   

• A lack of adaptive or assistive devices. None of the friends in these images used wheelchairs, walkers, canes or braces. This is interesting, because more than 2.5 billion people globally use assistive technology, according to the World Health Organization.
   

• Dogs as “best friends.” Eighty-two images (40%) included dogs. Not surprising, given that 70% of dog owners consider their furry family member their “best friend,” according to a OnePoll survey.
   

• One cat. One image in Georgia included a cat. It’s not clear why Midjourney chose to depict friends in Georgia with a cat. Incidentally, Statista reports Vermont (not Georgia) has the largest percentage of cat owners, where 45% of households include a feline.
   

• Coats and jackets in “four-season” states. If a state characteristically enjoyed four distinct seasons, people in these states were most often depicted in cold-weather gear, such as coats or jackets and hats.
   

• Cell phones as props. Friends were either carrying, or using, cell phones in 23 images – which may not be unusual. Research commonly suggests about 97% of Americans over age 13 own a cell phone or mobile device.
   

• Beverages as social connection. Seventeen percent of images included people holding, enjoying or sharing beverages.

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About Best Friends:

Best friends are for everyone. I hope you have yours. I know I'm grateful for mine.