Now, if the data storing these artificial relationships, and the systems that make use of them to present themselves as friendly and compassionate are owned by corporate interests, what are the ethics of deleting such data, or denying users access to the programs that interpret it?
On the one hand, corporate interests that spend large amounts of capital to develop such systems can reasonably be expected to have a stake in what they have built and the data they collect (for future training), and that they provide over the cloud to users.
On the other hand, users can experience real grief over the loss of artificially compassionate friends with whom they have an existing relationship.
Who owns the friendship? What are the rules here, and which ethical system should they be based on?
Ref. Robot Companions and In Japan