Navigating the Risks of Artificial Companionship Andrew Strait, UK AI Security Institute Join the meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZTQ2NTdkZWQtZDI5ZC00Y...> As artificial intelligence becomes deeply integrated into daily life, AI companion applications are rapidly proliferating, offering millions of users simulated friendship, emotional support, and even intimate relationships. This talk examines the escalating societal risks posed by these platforms, identifies key drivers for harm, and explores the kinds of harms they can cause. It ends with a discussion of potential mitigations that can be taken by developers to reduce these risks. Andrew is the Head of Societal Resilience at the UK AI Security Institute, where he runs a team that studies the societal impacts of advanced AI in the UK. He is a former Associate Director at the Ada Lovelace Institute responsible for Ada’s work addressing emerging technology and industry practice. Andrew has spent the last decade working at the intersection of technology, law and society. Prior to joining Ada, he was an Ethics & Policy Researcher DeepMind, where he managed internal AI ethics initiatives and oversaw the company’s network of external partnerships. Previously, he worked as a Legal Operations Specialist at Google where he developed and implemented platform moderation policies on areas such as data protection, hate speech, terrorist content and child safety. Subscribe to future talk announcements: Anyone outside Bell Labs can receive talk announcements by subscribing to the mailing list. To subscribe, send an empty email with the subject line "Subscribe RAI" to daniele.quercia@polito.it<mailto:daniele.quercia@polito.it>