Abstract

The Black Mirror episode Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too features a social robot called Ashley Too. It's said to have the same personality as pop singer Ashley O and is marketed as a way for her fans to be “best friends” with their “favorite pop star.” This chapter considers whether a robot such as Ashley Too could be a desirable friend. After exploring the features a social robot must have in order for our interactions with it to feel like being with someone rather than just something, and outlining the classical conception of friendship as a school for virtue, this chapter concludes that Ashley Too is designed in such a way as to preclude her ever being a genuinely good friend.