‘Average American Has Fewer Than 3 Friends’: Mark Zuckerberg Tells Indian-Origin Podcast Host

Mark Zuckerberg, who has made a fortune by connecting people through his social media platform, understands the immense power of relationships and how technology can shape, expand, and even redefine them.

In a podcast conversation with Indian-American host Dwarkesh Patel, the Facebook founder shared insights about the potential for AI to replace human connections and other related topics.

When Patel asked Zuckerberg how AI companies could foster healthy relationships between people and chatbots, Zuckerberg responded that as artificial intelligence continues to improve, these kinds of interactions will likely become more common. Instead of jumping to conclusions, he suggested that we should pay attention to how individuals actually utilize these tools. He believes that people have a good sense of what holds value for them and that AI could play a meaningful role in addressing issues like difficult conversations or feelings of loneliness.

Zuckerberg also pointed out an interesting fact. He said, "The average American has fewer than three friends, fewer than three people they would consider friends.....And the average person has a demand for meaningfully more. I think it's something like 15 friends or something. At some point, you're like, ‘All right, I'm just too busy; I can't deal with more people."

“I do think people are going to use AI for a lot of these social tasks. Already, one of the main things we see people using Meta AI for is talking through difficult conversations they need to have with people in their lives. I'm having this issue with my girlfriend. Help me have this conversation.’ Or, ‘I need to have a hard conversation with my boss at work. How do I have that conversation?’ That's pretty helpful. As the personalization loop kicks in and the AI starts to get to know you better and better, that will just be really compelling,” he added.