Good point. That sentence made me laugh this morning. You are right and there are plenty of people in the world and so an individual need not feel lonely. I was referring more to how one can experience one's self not as an individual but as part of a species. A person can have a whole town or country full of people, but that individual could feel lonely within their social group or they could want to travel to meet someone from a different culture because they want is a fresh perspective. When a person experiences themselves as part of a species, then a specific type of desire for an outside of our species, alien perspective might be attractive for similar reasons-to get a fresh view or contradiction or confirmation of ideas or just to reassure us that we are not alone.

There are many researchers currently working to create AI and each of them might have their own reasons to want to create AI: curiosity, scientific renown, wealth, to help humanity find new solutions, etc. But I question our actions as a species: why are we as a big group allowing, funding, and desiring the creation of AI robots?