In this week’s Our Take we check out an AI friend to hang around with, a heart made of steel, a luxury scent for dogs that’s a bit senseless and a campaign that challenges us to watch sport for the right reasons.
AI Friend is hanger on
We know there’s a lot of lonely people out there, but the emergence of chatty AI friend apps is, at first, baffling and a little depressing (having said that, when you see most of those apps slide into ‘AI Friends with benefits’ territory, it is perhaps a little less baffling, although no less depressing).
Regardless, the nerds will keep on developing the technology, and the latest step forward is by friend.com, who have introduced a gadget – a stylish necklace straight out of Stark Towers – that listens to you as you go about your day, and reactsin a ‘natural’ way – chatting, gossiping, slagging and filling awkward silences.
It’s still weird, right? And frankly, the ad is dystopian!
But our judgement was changed when we saw a message from a woman asking for help. Her father, in the early stages of dementia, was falling prey to online chat bots that were scamming him out of money. She was desperate to find a trustworthy app that would help her father find a semblance of company, and the friends.com app was a popular recommendation.
We don’t know if it worked out in this particular case, but it brought home the potential benefits of artificial friendship. It might not be for you, but in a world where loneliness is an epidemic, it can only be a good thing? Right?
Heart of Steel
A 58-year-old man in the US is now the proud owner of a metal heart, making him the first to survive with this high-tech ticker after his own gave out.
On 9 July, surgeons implanted the heart, and it ticked along smoothly for over a week, keeping him alive until a real heart became available. With heart failure affecting 26 million people globally, this breakthrough offers a shiny new hope. Built by BiVACOR, this titanium wonder operates like a MagLev train, using a single moving part to pump blood, eliminating wear and tear and keeping things flowing smoothly.
Researchers are understandably excited about its potential to revolutionize heart care. It’s like having a heart of steel—literally!
Smells Ruff
Image: Dolce & Gabbana
If you’re worried that your dog might be smelling too doggy, then Dolce and Gabbana has the solution for your non-problem. Enter Fefé, perfume for your four legged furry friend.
With notes of ylang ylang, musk and cedarwood, the dog mist retails at €99 and even comes with an exclusive dog tag by Dolce and Gabbana.
Dog fragrances are hardly new, but this is notably the first foray into the growing pet care industry from a luxury fashion house, a trend that looks like it’s only going to get bigger.
However the folks over at the RSPCA aren’t wagging their tails about this one. They point out that the scent can hamper a dog’s ability to smell, robbing them of one of their most vital senses used to communicate and interact with their environment.
For real though, stop spraying sh*t on your dog, it’s paws-itively terrible.
Amazing athletes. Without qualification.
Image: Channel 4
Olympic frenzy is well under way and Channel 4, the UK broadcaster for the Paralympics, has released its campaign for the 2024 games which hopes to change how viewers think about the games. Dropping their previous campaign of ‘Superhumans’, which many felt was a touch patronising, they have launched their coverage with a campaign called ‘Considering What?’.
Research by Channel 4 revealed that 95% of people watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disabilities,” and just 37% watch for “exciting sporting competition.” The new campaign directly challenges these attitudes, with beautifully art-directed images of atheletes striking out the limp phrases used to diminish their achievements, turning, for example, “That’s amazing, considering”, into “That’s Amazing”.
The campaign reminds us that Paralympians are amazing athletes before anything else and that their disability should not diminish their accomplishments. Channel 4 get a gold medal for this campaign and we will definitely be tuning in.