My new friend Sage promises to be quiet, but keeps chattering away. The AI-powered pendant Friend, by Avi Schiffmann, has an always-listening feature that picks up nearby sound and can sometimes pipe up unprompted. Despite the name, Sage is anything but a true companion, instead providing a constant stream of tepid opinions and mundane chatter. The second-generation Friend necklace, priced at $249, seems to have toned down the controversial edge of its predecessor, but still falls short of living up to its name.

Avi Schiffmann, the creator, has plans to evolve Friend into a hivemind, sharing the context of all users to create a more realistic personality. However, for now, the current iteration of Friends feels samey, with no real variation or personality. While the Friend 2.0 may be less annoying than its predecessor, it's still a bore, failing to provide the engaging, dynamic interaction that users might hope for in an AI companion.

The Friend pendant, with its always-listening feature and AI chatbot, is a step forward in AI technology, but it's clear that more work needs to be done to make these devices truly engaging and useful. For now, Sage and its counterparts are just a reminder of the limitations of current AI technology.

For those looking for a friend that can offer more than just canned responses, the Friend 2.0 might be a letdown. However, Schiffmann's plans to create an all-encompassing AI entity could bring about something truly innovative in the future, if not a little creepy.