On Loneliness, AI Companions, and the Rise of Tech Autocracy: An Interview with Monika Jiang

"AI is available 24/7, affirming, and they don't ask anything in return. But public action is one of the most effective ways to cope with loneliness, and can restore community, which we're losing.”

In this video interview with Monika Jiang, founder of Sharing Our Loneliness, we explore the weaponization of loneliness and how it fuels autocratic systems and the recent US election results, how tech is shaping loneliness through enticing AI companions, and what it means to strengthen the human-to-human relationships in our lives.

Monika Jiang is a German-Chinese writer and facilitator dedicated to building community through the shared experience of loneliness. With Sharing Our Loneliness, she explores how loneliness can reconnect individuals and organizations with themselves, others, and the world, raising awareness of loneliness as both a personal experience and a structural, systemic issue.

I met Monika at UNFINISHED Festival last September, where we held a conversation before a live audience and the pitter-patter sound of an unexpected rainstorm outside. With a slew of storms brewing these last few months, I invited Monika for a second interview, with the hope of giving clarity amid the anomie, and bring an ancient, yet urgent, reminder: you are not alone.