I remember where I was when I finished reading that book. I was by the pool in Cannes as there was a flight crew strike; I was "stuck" in the south of France. Oh, woe was I. A forced day off on the French Riviera. Terrible stuff, really.
So, I leisurely sipped rosé and spent the afternoon reading. When the symbolic parallels of Valentine Michael Smith’s violent death and Jesus's crucifixion became too heavy-handed for my taste, I grew annoyed and threw the book in the pool.
I wonder what Elon, supposedly a very clever man, thinks he is up to with these two companions that people can carry in their pockets at all times. He is a very outspoken “breeder” who preaches that everyone should have many children to ensure that the human species doesn’t die out.
His former bromance buddy, Trump, has done his part, having fathered five children, while Elon himself has spawned 13 children so far.
For rich men, it’s not very difficult to have many children, particularly not when there is IVF and surrogacy available these days. Men can literally go shopping for children without having any women in their lives at all. Just ask Elton John, Neil Patrick Harris, Ricky Martin, Perez Hilton or Anderson Cooper.
I’m the wrong generation to have read the Harry Potter books; I hadn’t had children yet, and was too old to be interested in children’s books at the time. But in one of these books, there is a very interesting little spell that may reveal more about AI than any sci-fi novel ever will.
It's Tom Riddle‘s diary, the one that manipulated Ginny Weasley. For each day that she wrote in that diary, her soul was slowly being sucked from her.
“I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me... No one's ever understood me like you, Tom... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in... It's like a friend I can carry around in my pocket... If I say it myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed.”
These days, people are chatting with these companions in the Grok app, slowly letting their souls evaporate as they fall in love with digital entities that humans can never compare to.
Why a cynical person might even believe that Elon is targeting certain groups who may fall for this sort of thing, to ensure that a certain level of naivité is effectively bred out of the gene pool. A digital eugenics, if you will.
The worst combination. I guess you're making sure dumb people don't breed? pic.twitter.com/7dJ242Nhdy
— Åsk Dabitch 🇸🇪 🇺🇸 ᚼᛅ ᛘᛅᛏᛁ ᛁᚬᚢ ᛚᚬᚬᚴ (@dabitch) July 16, 2025
Some people are very susceptible to these types of digital companions.
We’ve already seen how quickly and easily social contagions have spread via Tumblr, Instagram, and various other social media. Young, naïve and lonely children are particularly vulnerable - but that doesn’t mean that adults won’t be suckered in as well. It’s harder to make new friends as an adult, when we’re not forced into new groups as we are when we’re shoved into classes of 30 random people of the same age doing the same activities as we are in school.
If you’ve read this far but don’t know what a neet is, it’s a young adult who is "Not in Education, Employment, or Training." Meaning, they are one of those dweebs that somehow survive living on Hot Pockets, either as a permanent couch surfer or still living in their parents’ basement.
This is an ever-growing community as unemployment rates climb and “hookup culture” has burned an entire generation out of the dating game.
Not to mention what the internet porn damage has done to sex, as children have been exposed to it far too young. They grow up to become Bonnie Blue or have their breast surgically removed to avoid becoming adult women altogether. The boys can fall into the trap of following Tate or become confused catgirls, as so many young men have, including one of Elon's sons. So he should know exactly what dangers lie ahead with these companions.
If the sixties drug culture meant we turned on, tuned in, and dropped out like Leary said, today’s digital culture may mean that people turn on their digital pal and drop out of not just the rat race but humanity altogether.
No work, no life, no more children.
What is even the point of anything when love lives in your pocket?
