Your kid could have worse friends than a chatbot

Is this the start of a horror movie or the plot of Toy Story 12? [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, the technologically impaired father-in-law of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - ChatGPT puts [your attention]( on sale. - [Streaming]( is the NFL’s new holy grail. - [Child poverty]( is a legislative fail. - [BP’s stock]( is looking pretty frail. You've Got [a Friend]( in ChatGPT I can’t tell whether this [excerpt]( from Tyler Cowen is the start of a [horror movie]( or the plot of [Toy Story 12](, so you tell me: Imagine a chatbot programmed to be your child’s friend. It would be exactly the kind of friend your kid wants, even (you hope) the kind of friend your kid needs. Your child might talk with this chatbot for hours each day. Over time, these chatbots would indeed teach children valuable things, including about math and science. But it would happen slowly, subtly. And this might not just be the case with friends: “Most students have a favorite teacher,” he writes. “In the future, could that teacher be … a chatbot?” Tyler envisions a world where artificially intelligent bots develop real relationships with users, as opposed to merely providing a skill-sharing service like Duolingo or Chat-GPT4. Of course, those technologies will still serve a role. “For those with a highly individualized learning style — preferring videos to text, say, or wanting lessons slower or faster — the AIs will oblige,” he explains. But the “friendship first” model has the most promise. Tyler had friends in high school who would talk to him about … you guessed it … economics: “We learned a lot from each other, but we were friends first and foremost, and the conversations grew out of that. As it turns out, all three of us ended up becoming professional economists,” he writes. Of course, there may be risks with artificial life lessons. What if you’re an angsty teen who’s into [boygenius](? Is your chatbot going to teach you how to be a [perennial sad girl]( who dabbles in [arson](? Hopefully not. Already, Parmy Olson [says]( dozens of developers have submitted “girlfriend” bots to OpenAI’s GPT Store. Although users can only use this for relationship advice — OpenAI [doesn't allow]( developers to create bots that foster romance — it’ll get harder to ensure all of the GPTs play by the rules. In some ways, finding a friend has never been easier. But that’s no guarantee of true companionship. Not yet, at least. You Love [the Game]( Wait, there was a football game this weekend on Peacock? I didn’t watch it. But apparently 23 million humans did — including at least one [technologically impaired]( father-in-law — making it a historic event for the streaming world. NBCUniversal execs have spent the week [patting]( themselves on the back for making everyone shell out $5.99 just to watch Patrick Mahomes get his [helmet]( smashed in. But will fans cancel their subscriptions now that the Chiefs-Dolphins game is over? Even if some do, Adam Minter isn’t too worried. Unlike other programs, he says “the passion for sports — and sports television — hasn’t waned in the age of cord-cutting and streaming. In 2023, the NFL’s regular season games averaged [17.9 million viewers](, its second-best average since 1995.” A dearth of [original programming]( amid the Hollywood writers’ strike surely helps those figures, but they’re impressive nonetheless. “No scripted program, no matter how addictive, could give Peacock the title of having the most streamed program in US television history this past weekend. It had to be an NFL game,” Adam writes. Of course, having [Taylor Swift]( be the tight end’s girlfriend [helps, too](. But even last year — well before the Taylor-Travis mania began — [93 of the top 100]( television broadcasts were NFL games, with the Super Bowl sitting at No. 1. That NBC had the foresight to pay $110 million for the exclusive right to stream a playoff game shows a savviness that not many other streamers currently have. Although I do pay for Peacock, it’s not to witness grown men experience blunt force trauma to the head. It’s for Bravo! The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City [finale](?? Totally [deserving of]( an Academy Award. But that puts me in the minority, Adam writes: “Live sports beat scripted entertainment. Streamers that want to grow and survive must get into the business.” Read [the whole thing](. Telltale Charts Although the TikTok algorithm gods have ordained “[loud budgeting](” as Gen Z’s First Official Money Trend of 2024, I’ve found myself questioning the origins of the concept. Technically, the United States of America has long been on a loud budget! Isn’t that why Congress nixed Biden’s expansion of the child tax credit? Why else would we want to stop a program that reduced the child poverty rate in the US to 5.3% from 8.1%? Although restoring the expansion may [add billions]( to the budget deficit, Karl Smith [says]( the new bipartisan tax deal makes a lot of economic sense. “The federal government [spent $6.1 trillion]( in fiscal 2023,” he writes. “Spending $100 billion over the next two years to bring 2.1 million children out of poverty and to grow the economy by as much as $325 billion each year is an incredible deal. It's a much better return than what taxpayers will receive on the other 99% of government outlays.” BP got a new CEO today, which sounds a lot more exciting than it actually is. Really, all they did was give the interim CEO a standing desk and a new stack of business cards. “BP directors and senior executives insist the current business plan is right,” Javier Blas [writes](, but the market — and [our columnist]( — disagrees. After the announcement, shares of the British oil giant fell to the lowest point since October 2022. This isn’t the first time BP has struggled with its brand identity. Remember Beyond Petroleum? Or when they swapped to “bp” because [focus groups]( felt that lowercase was a cuddlier, friendlier version of BP? Javier just wishes “BP would stick to what it knows — petroleum. It may not be politically correct, but it pays the dividends.” Further Reading The SEC [Bitcoin ETF approval]( warrants a question: What was Gary Gensler thinking? — Bloomberg’s editorial board This [leading cause]( of pregnancy complications deserves more attention. — Lisa Jarvis Quantitative tightening [didn't go well]( in 2019. The Fed seems to have learned its lesson. — Bill Dudley Companies committed to diversity, equity and inclusion should follow [Mark Cuban’s lead](. — Beth Kowitt Meddling with mortgages won’t fix the [UK’s housing woes](. — Marcus Ashworth What causes institutions [to do dumb things]( and then stick by them? —Adrian Wooldridge The US is having a [near-perfect run]( of inflation and economic growth data. — Jonathan Levin The campaign to break down Apple’s [walled garden]( isn’t over . — Dave Lee The [UK’s railway]( is a case study in how not to run large infrastructure projects. — Matthew Brooker ICYMI Blinken [got stranded]( after a Boeing 737 broke down. Michelle Obama [turned]( 60. Google is [leaving a hole]( that TikTok is filling. Kickers Remind me why J.Lo is doing a [movie musical](? Kraft wants to [elevate]( your next grilled cheese. [This Republican]( says sex with your cousin isn’t incest. [Bobbi Althoff]( is back. But is she better than ever? A TikTok comedian is [gunning for]( Janet Yellen’s job. Notes: Please send jalapeño-flavored Kraft Singles and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022