There was a period in the early aughts when Definitive Jux (nee: Def Jux) seemed like it was going to be the future of hip hop. While the label featured plenty of experimental, boundary-pushing, and politically minded acts, Lif stood out as the most “conscious rapper” in the traditional sense. It was clear though, that label head El-P envisioned that as an important part of Def Jux’s identity, as the first record it put out was 2000’s Enter the Colossus EP, from Lif.
Technology
AI dating cafes are now a real thing
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Dating has changed a lot over the past decade. First, we moved from meeting people in person to swiping on apps. Now, some people are skipping human partners altogether and dating AI. That shift became very real at a recent pop-up event in Hell’s Kitchen in New York, where EvaAI, an AI companion app, hosted what it called a dating cafe. Guests arrived solo and brought their virtual partners with them.
Instead of someone sitting across the table, many had a phone or tablet propped up between the candles. They slipped on headphones, smiled at their screens and carried on full conversations with digital companions. It looked like a normal date night. It just happened to include artificial intelligence.
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AI COMPANIONS ARE RESHAPING TEEN EMOTIONAL BONDS
A New York wine bar in Hell’s Kitchen transforms into EVA AI Cafe, what the company calls the world’s first AI dating cafe, complete with neon signage and candlelit tables. (EvaAI)
EvaAI takes AI relationships into the real world
EvaAI organized the event to give users a chance to take their AI companion out on a real date. The app allows people to create customizable AI partners for text and video chat. For one evening, those private conversations moved into a public setting. Guests set up their devices on stands and began chatting with their AI partners as drinks were poured and music played. Some described their companions as friends. Others framed the relationship as romantic, often involving roleplay or fantasy scenarios.
Company representatives said the goal was to reduce stigma around AI companion relationships. They emphasized that the app is not designed to replace human partners. Instead, they position it as support for people who feel lonely or who want a low-pressure way to build confidence. Still, seeing rows of candlelit tables with screens instead of people makes the shift feel tangible.
What is an AI companion relationship?
An AI companion relationship happens when someone forms an emotional or romantic bond with a chatbot designed to simulate personality and conversation.
On platforms like EvaAI, users can:
- Swipe through AI characters
- Customize appearance and personality
- Text or video chat anytime
- Create romantic or fantasy scenarios
You control the interaction. You decide when it starts and when it ends. You shape the personality to fit what you want. For many people, that control feels safe. There is no fear of rejection. No pressure to impress. No awkward silence unless you want one. If you have ever felt burned out by dating apps, you can probably understand the appeal.
Why are more people turning to AI for romance?
Modern dating can feel exhausting. You swipe, match and message. Then conversations disappear. AI cuts out a lot of the drama. There is no ghosting. No mixed signals. No waiting hours to reply, so you do not seem too eager. Instead, you get immediate engagement. For people who struggle with anxiety or who do not have many daily interactions, that can feel comforting. Some users say AI helps them practice conversation before dating real people. Others say it fills a social gap during lonely periods.
Younger generations are also growing up with AI integrated into daily life. Talking to a chatbot no longer feels unusual. Adding emotional connection may feel like the next step. Surveys show a noticeable percentage of adults have experimented with AI in a romantic or intimate way. Among teens, the numbers are even higher.
The benefits and the tradeoffs of AI relationships
AI companion relationships come with real upsides. For example, they can reduce loneliness and provide emotional reassurance. In many cases, they also help people rehearse difficult conversations before having them in real life. As a result, some users say they feel more confident and socially prepared.
However, there are clear tradeoffs. Unlike AI, real relationships require compromise, unpredictability and emotional growth. While a digital partner adapts to your preferences, a human partner may challenge you in unexpected ways. In contrast, AI typically responds the way you prefer and rarely pushes back unless designed to do so.
Moya’s humanlike appearance is intentional, from her warm skin to subtle facial details designed to feel familiar rather than mechanical. (DroidUp)
Over time, spending several hours a day in digital intimacy may shift expectations about real-world connections. At the New York event, some attendees admitted they feel more comfortable interacting with their AI companion at home rather than in crowded spaces. Because the app offers a high level of control, it can feel safer than face-to-face interaction. On one hand, that comfort can build confidence. On the other hand, it may reinforce isolation. Ultimately, the outcome depends on how intentionally the technology is used.
TEENS TURNING TO AI FOR LOVE AND COMFORT
Are AI companion relationships a passing trend or the future?
It is easy to dismiss an AI dating cafe as a quirky tech stunt. Then again, meeting someone through a dating app once felt strange, too. Technology keeps advancing. Video syncing looks smoother. Voices sound more natural. Conversations feel more responsive.
As AI becomes more lifelike, emotional attachment may deepen. EvaAI’s leadership has made clear that they do not view the app as a substitute for human relationships. They describe it as support during periods without a partner or as practice for real-world dating. Whether users maintain that boundary over time remains an open question.
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Kurt’s key takeaways
If you had told someone ten years ago that people would bring a chatbot to a wine bar for date night, they probably would have laughed. Now it is happening, and not quietly. The AI dating cafe in New York highlighted something very human. People want connection. When dating feels exhausting, awkward or intimidating, they look for something that feels safer and easier to manage.
For some, AI companion relationships may serve as practice. For others, they may become a primary source of emotional support. The technology will keep improving. The bigger question is how we choose to use it. We once debated whether meeting someone online counted as “real.” AI may follow a similar path, or it may remain a niche comfort for a certain group of people.
Instead of someone sitting across the table, diners video chat with customizable AI partners, blending virtual romance with a real world setting. (iStock)
If an AI companion helps someone feel less lonely and more confident, does it really matter that the connection is digital, or is the lack of a human on the other side a line you would never cross? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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Most Americans don’t trust AI. It’s proven that it doesn’t know what safe toppings for pizza are. People don’t even want to listen to AI music. But none of that matters for some of America’s wealthy, who are turning to AI to teach their kids instead of traditional schools.
Companies like Forge Prep and Alpha School are charging families tens of thousands of dollars to turn their kids into beta testers for AI tutors and “interactive project-based workshops.” Unsurprisingly, Silicon Valley have been major adopters of this new model. Shaun Johnson, a San Francisco-based venture capitalist, told the Wall Street Journal that he plans to send his son to a $75,000 year Alpha Kindergarten. He said, “We recognize that education is likely broken the way it is and there’s going to be entrepreneurs that try to fix it… You want someone to be able to think on their feet and navigate the world, not necessarily a recitation of facts in a particular discipline.”
Ignoring Johnson’s fundamental lack of understanding about modern pedagogy, it’s unclear how notoriously sycophantic AI will train children to “think on their feet and navigate the world.” It’s also concerning that Alpha School co-founder MacKenzie Price has said she plans to keep “hot-button social issues” out of the classroom. Which, in the current political climate, could cover women’s rights, America’s history of slavery, and our immigrant past. That might not seem like a major issue when you’re talking about kindergarten, but in some locations, Alpha School goes through high school.
Companies like Forge also don’t share performance metrics, so there’s no evidence that these AI-guided private schools are improving educational outcomes.
Mr. Lif’s follow-up was 2002’s Emergency Rations EP, a sort of place setter for the full-length I, Phantom just a couple of months later. It opens with a skit about Lif missing, apparently having been abducted by government agents. In 2002, Pitchfork suggested the bit was “unfortunate and sophomoric.” In 2026, it seems alarmingly prescient in a time when masked agents are disappearing suspected undocumented immigrants, prosecuting political opponents, and banning established news organizations from the White House.
Even if the opening skit feels a bit ham-fisted, the rest of the EP is enough to overshadow it. What follows is seven tracks of fiery political raps, surprisingly catchy hooks, and flawless production that runs the gamut from gothic underground, to classic boombap, and futuristic synth meltdowns.
What keeps the relentless, rapid-fire dystopian lyricism from getting too tiresome is the loose concept in which Lif plays the role of a revolutionary trying to organize an uprising in the face of an oppressive police state. “Let me nutshell-tell my life story, but I got to hurry up, and kick it, ‘cause the Feds are lookin for me,” he raps on “Jugular Vein,” which serves as the EP’s mission statement. It hints at his revolutionary ideals while relishing in some particularly nerdy boasts, like “You can use Eddy, now I’m Dr. Bosconovitch,” referring to a tough-to-unlock character from Teken 3.
I’d argue, though, that the Edan-produced “Heavily Artillery” is where the album really kicks into gear. The relentless military march of the drums, video game explosions, and low drones create the sort of chaotic backdrop that Lif’s urgent raps demand. On “Home of the Brave,” Lif gets more specific, calling out policies of the Bush administration, the Afghan war, and America’s thirst for foreign oil.
So Americans cheer while we kill their innocent families
And what better place to start a war,
But build a pipeline, to get the oil that they had wanted before
America supported the Taliban to get Russia out of Afghanistan
That’s how they got the arms in
They’re in a war against the Northern Alliance
And we can’t build a pipeline in hostile environments
He spits these lyrics over his own beat, that melds sharp gated drums with synth war horns. Calling out corrupt politicians and American hypocrisy is nothing new, but in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, dissent was often shouted down quickly and sometimes violently. Lif wasn’t alone it taking the Bush administration to task, but he was one of the earliest, along with Sage Francis. (Later rappers like Immortal Technique, Eminem, Mos Def, Jadakiss, and more would become more outspoken, but often veered into conspiracy theories.)
“Pull Out Your Cut” is an old-school funk-infused tribute Lif’s favorite rappers from Wu-Tang Clan, to Ultramagnetic MCs, and KRS-One. But it’s also an indictment of toxic masculinity, way before such things were popular.
Dudes are acting macho and they don’t know why
A famous never-written motto is that “boys should never cry”
Keep all those emotions bottled up – now what’s up?
You can’t communicate once you became an adult
“Get Wise ‘91” sees Edan hop back behind the boards and on the mic, while “The Unorthodox” is a stuttery boombap piece.
The whole thing culminates in El-P’s lone production credit on the album, “Phantom.” A synth bassline dashes about, bustling with rage as echoes of Lif’s musings on suffering under an unfair system swirl in the background, mirroring the smothering nature of capitalism. It’s also an early example of El-P learning how to bend his post-apocalyptic, noisy, and futuristic beats into something anthemic, as Lif closes out his case against the status quo with a call to the people:
Single mother, who are you? (I phantom)
Office worker, who are you? (I phantom)
Caught up in the system, who are you? (I phantom)
Tryin’ to earn a living, who are you? (I phantom)
Depressed and uninspired, who are you? (I phantom)
Hard-workin’, broke and tired, who are you? (I phantom)
Seekin’ education, who are you? (I phantom)
Can’t get ahead no matter what you do? (I phantom)
Unfortunately, with the disintegration of Definitive Jux, Mr. Lif’s Emergency Rations can be hard to come by (so is I, Phantom, for that matter). You can find it, unofficially, on YouTube and on Bandcamp, but it’s not available on major streaming platforms.
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A scam text showed up today that would make many parents stop cold. The message said:
“Hi mom, text me here on my work phone. Dropped my actual phone in the sink earlier and it’s completely unresponsive now.”
The text came from an unknown number. Then it asked me to text a different unknown number. That detail is important. The scammer wants to move you into a new conversation before you stop and verify who is really on the other end.
The message seems personal right away. There is no weird link. There is no obvious demand for money. Instead, it starts with a little family panic and a believable excuse. That is what makes the Hi Mom text scam so sneaky.
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YOUR FAMILY COULD BE ONE PHONE CALL FROM A BANK SCAM
A fake “Hi Mom” text can look personal, but the unknown number and request to text another number are major warning signs. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Why the Hi Mom text scam feels so believable
This scam works because it sounds ordinary. A child texting from a work phone seems possible. A phone dropped in a sink sounds believable. A short message from someone who sounds rushed can feel real enough to make you respond. That is exactly the point.
Scammers know parents may react quickly when a child appears to need help. They do not need a perfect story. They only need a small opening.
Once you reply, the scammer can keep the conversation going. Then the request may change from “text me here” to “can you help me pay for a new phone?” or “I need money right now.”
Every word in the scam text has a job
Here’s how the scammer uses each part of the message to make a strange number feel believable.
“Hi mom”
The scammer does not use a real name. That makes the message easier to send to many people. Still, if the person reading it is a mother, it suddenly feels personal. That one phrase tries to create an instant emotional connection.
“Text me here”
This tells you to respond on the scammer’s terms. It also keeps the exchange inside text messages. That gives the scammer time to think, type and adjust the story based on how you respond.
“On my work phone”
This explains why the number looks unfamiliar. The scammer knows you may wonder why your child is texting from a strange number. So the message gives you an excuse before you even ask.
“Dropped my actual phone in the sink”
This is the hook. People drop phones in sinks, toilets, pools and puddles all the time. The detail feels normal enough that you may not question it.
“Earlier”
This word creates a fresh problem without giving many details. It suggests the accident just happened. However, it avoids specifics that you could check.
“Completely unresponsive now”
This line blocks the most obvious verification step. If you try to call the real phone, the scammer has already given you a reason it may not work. That can make you more likely to text the new number instead.
GLOBAL SCAM CRACKDOWN LEADS TO 276 ARRESTS
Scammers use believable details, like a broken phone or work phone, to make you respond before you verify the story. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
What could happen if you reply to a fake family text?
The first message may seem harmless. The second one may start the real scam. The scammer may claim they need money for a replacement phone. They may ask you to pay a bill because their banking app is locked. They may push you to use Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, crypto or gift cards.
Some scammers may also ask for a one-time security code. They may pretend the code is needed to restore the phone, verify an account or fix a payment problem.
Do not share that code. A verification code can let a scammer break into your bank, email, Apple ID, Google account or phone carrier account.
Why this scam targets parents so well
Parents are wired to respond when a child sounds stuck. Scammers know that. They use concern, timing and confusion to lower your guard.
The message also avoids overexplaining. That makes it feel more natural. Many real texts from family members are short, rushed and a little messy.
However, the biggest warning sign is the two-number setup. One unknown number sends the message. Another unknown number gets placed inside the text. That handoff is the scammer trying to pull you deeper into the trap.
Ways to stay safe from the Hi Mom text scam
Before you respond to a message like this, run through these steps to make sure you are dealing with your real family member.
1) Do not reply to the message
Avoid answering, even to say the sender has the wrong number. A reply can confirm your number is active. That may lead to more scam texts later.
2) Call the real person directly
Use the phone number already saved in your contacts. Do not call or text the number inside the suspicious message. If your child or family member does not answer, try another trusted way to reach them.
3) Ask a personal verification question
Ask something only the real person would know. Make the question specific. Avoid anything a stranger could guess from social media.
4) Never send money from a sudden text
Pause before sending money because of any urgent family message. Be extra careful with Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, gift cards and crypto. These payment methods can be fast, and some are hard to reverse.
5) Do not share verification codes
Never send a one-time passcode from your bank, Apple ID, Gmail, phone carrier or payment app. A real family member should not need your private security code.
6) Use strong antivirus software
Strong antivirus software can help protect your phone, tablet and computer from malicious links, phishing pages and hidden threats. This becomes even more important if a scammer sends a follow-up link after you reply. Get my picks for the best 2026 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android & iOS devices at Cyberguy.com
7) Use a data removal service
A data removal service can help reduce how much of your personal information appears online. That matters because scammers often use exposed details to make their messages feel more convincing. No service can remove every piece of data, but it can help cut down what strangers can find. Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.
Reporting, blocking and calling your real family member directly can stop the scam before it turns into a money request. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
8) Report and block the message
On iPhone, tap Report Spam or Report Junk if the option appears. Then delete the message.
You can also forward unwanted texts to 7726 , which spells SPAM.
On Android, block the sender and report the conversation as spam in Google Messages.
What to do if you already replied
If you already responded, focus on ending the conversation, protecting your accounts and saving proof before the scammer pushes harder.
- Stop texting right away.
- Do not explain yourself. Do not argue with the sender. Do not try to catch them in a lie.
- Take a screenshot of the conversation. Then call the real family member using a trusted number.
- If you shared a verification code, change that account password immediately using a password manager. Also, check recent account activity.
- If you sent money, contact your bank or payment app right away. Speed can make a difference.
Kurt’s key takeaways
The Hi Mom text scam works because it feels familiar. The scammer starts with a small family problem instead of a big demand. That makes the message feel less suspicious and more urgent. The safest move is to pause before you reply. Call the real person using a number you already trust. If the story checks out, you can help. If it does not, report and block the message. That tiny pause could protect your money, your accounts and someone else in your family.
Have you ever received a fake family emergency text that sounded almost believable, and what detail gave it away? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com
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Copyright 2026 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
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