The Rise of AI Companionship with Julia Freeland Fisher

Is AI companionship a crisis, a symptom, or an opportunity? In this keynote, Julia Freeland Fisher of the Clayton Christensen Institute cuts through the noise to identify the most important signals in the rapidly growing world of AI companions — from romantic chatbots to productivity tools that blur the line. Drawing on disruptive innovation theory and original qualitative research, Julia explores why people are turning to AI for emotional connection, what the research actually tells us about harms and benefits, and what a market-based response to this trend could look like. Keynote address given during the Human Algorithm Summit sponsored by Workday Foundation on April 27, 2026 About the Speaker: Julia Freeland Fisher is a researcher at the Clayton Christensen Institute focused on markets, social connection, and emerging technology.