AI, Grok and Companion
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3 quarters of US teens use AI companions despite risks
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Another AI companion is coming to Elon Musk's Grok chatbot.The companion is inspired by "Twilight" and "50 Shades of Grey," Musk said.Grok already has two companions: an anime girl named Ani and a vulgar red panda named Rudi.
The latest version of Grok for iOS (version 1.1.18) comes with two companions — an anime girl called Ani and a red panda called Rudi.
Ani, an anime avatar wearing a tight black dress, was launched the same day the tech billionaire was awarded a $200 million Department of Defense contract.
One of the new “companions,” or AI characters for users to interact with, is a sexualized blonde anime bot called “Ani."
A recent report by Common Sense Media says three quarters of teens have used AI companions, which are designed to be agreeable and validating. More than a third found them more "satisfying" than interacting with friends.
For now, most teens still prefer people to bots. According to the recent report, 80% of AI companion users spend more time with real friends than with AI. Just 6% said they spend more time with AI companions than peers, while 13% spend about equal time with both.
Grok, a product of Musk’s company xAI, is calling the characters “Companions.” So far, there are two companions that users can chat with: a flirty Japanese anime character n