Falling in love with AI is no longer science fiction. Not only are people using AI to solve equations or plan trips, but they are also telling chatbots they love them, considering them true friends, romantic, partners, or even spouses.
An Irish study conducted by Censuswide found 13% of men and 7% of women, with 16% of 25-34 year olds, have pursued romance with AI chatbots.
Marketed as friends, companions, romantic partners and helpers, AI chatbots are attracting users by the millions.
According to the Institute for Family Studies, nearly one third of Americans had an intimate relationship with an A.I. chatbot, and 25% of young adults believe that AI has the potential to replace real-life romantic relationships.
Pursuing a relationship with AI can be seen as a tempting and easy alternative to the messiness of real human relationships.
On Reddit, r/MyBoyfriendisAI has more than 85,000 weekly visitors and over 27,000 members, with many sharing gleeful recollections of the day their chatbot proposed marriage.
MIT researchers discovered that members of this community are more likely to be in a relationship with general purpose AI such as ChatGPT than companion specific chatbots like Replika.
Forming a relationship with AI causes users to become emotionally dependent on a chatbot, creating a disassociation from reality to avoid conversations with real people.
Although being romantically involved with a chatbot is unrealistic and detached, some may argue that this is a better alternative than experiencing a crushing sense of loneliness.
However, such relationships hinder social development and leave users highly unprepared for the real world.
It is crucial for chatbot developers to consider that an emotional dependance may occur over time and this relationship between humans and AI is a harm in itself. AI developers must remodel platforms to help people without emotionally reeling them in.
As AI becomes increasingly more integrated into human life, it is crucial to recognize that human connenction is irreplaceable.
