Join the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Community of Practice at 1:00 p.m. on January 21 for a conversation with Professor Valerie Tiberius on her forthcoming book Artificially Yours: Real Friendship in a World of AI Chatbots (July 2026, Princeton University Press). The publisher website describes the title as:
Blending insights from philosophy, psychology, and her own entertaining experiences with chatbots, Valerie Tiberius addresses a subject at the heart of our growing reliance on AI companions. She defines the ideal friendship as an enjoyable, close relationship built on shared activities between people who care about each other for their own sake. But few things in life are ever ideal, including friendship. Tiberius demonstrates how different kinds of friendships can be valuable in different ways: they can be pleasurable or useful, they can shape who we are and how we see ourselves, and the best ones are good for their own sakes. Using each of these values as her guide, Tiberius finds that relationships with chatbots do in fact exhibit some of the characteristics of friendship—but cautions that even future relationships with advanced AI are highly unlikely to be good in all the ways human friendships are.
Chapter 4 of the book is available to interested readers, and the conversation will cover the book project, the associated undergraduate course, and broader issues related to the anthropomorphic predilections of artificial agents.
- Tiberius - Artificially Yours: What's So Great about Friendship?.pdf
- Tiberius - Artificially Yours: What's So Great about Friendship? - Accessible Google Doc
If you are able to read the chapter before the meeting and/or wish to submit potential questions to the presenter, please email [email protected]. Questions will also be taken live in our synchronous Zoom session.
Date: Wednesday, January 21, 1:00 pm, Join us via Zoom
About our presenter: Professor Tiberius holds the Paul W. Frenzel Chair in Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and is a professor and former chair in the Department of Philosophy.
Format: Discussion, conversation, questions, and answers related to the book. The facilitator will provide some initial framing questions, but active participation and engagement with the community is our intention.
Facilitated by Dan Emery, Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
About AICOP and ShareTime:
AICOP is an informal community of UMN Staff, Faculty, and students that shares resources regarding the impact of Generative AI on research, administration, teaching & learning, and culture. Join the Google Group
ShareTime is a community space for faculty, instructors, and staff throughout the University of Minnesota System to share and discuss projects, conundrums, and opportunities in relation to Generative AI. This Zoom-only meeting features a presentation by an invited guest speaker or group. Each presentation has time for open discussions and follow up questions.
AICOP Group members are automatically invited to ShareTime meetings.
Accessibility & Accommodation Requests
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. For inquiries about accessibility or if you'd like to request an accommodation, please email [email protected] at least one week prior to the event. We will do our best to accommodate any access requests received after that time.