In a world where swiping right feels more like a thumb workout than a quest for love, it’s no wonder that one in four young adults believes AI partners could soon replace real-life romance.
Why bother with awkward small talk or deciphering cryptic texts when you can have an algorithm that already knows your favorite ice cream, Netflix genre, and your pet peeves? Forget candlelit dinners—your AI boo will just dim the screen to soft lighting and tell you you’re the most attractive person in the database. Who needs flowers when they can send you an Amazon gift card with a special compliment? It’s the neural network thought that counts.
In a survey published on November 2024, (conducted from May-June 2024) by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), 25% of all respondents (a total of 2,000 individuals under the age of 40) believe that AI has the potential to replace real-life romance.
“When it comes to how Artificial Intelligence will affect our lives, the response from industry insiders, as well as the public, ranges from a sense of impending doom to heraldry,” wrote the authors. “We do not yet understand the long-term trajectory of AI and how it will change society. Something, indeed, is happening to us – and we all know it. But what? Gen Zer’s and Millennials are the most active users of generative AI. Many of them, it appears, are turning to AI for companionship.”
The survey referred to a comprehensive study by the Data Provenance Initiative, that revealed that the romance often leads to more, with sexual role-playing being the second-most prevalent use of ChatGPT. The Initiative, a collective of independent and academic researchers volunteering their time to data transparency projects, analyzed a million ChatGPT interaction logs, and reported their findings in “Consent in Crisis: The Rapid Decline of the AI Data Commons.” The focus of the analysis was to understand the evolving role of the internet as a primary ingredient to AI, but it also revealed the way that chatbots are being used for a variety of reasons, including romantic interaction.
“Additionally, the Psychologist bot, a popular simulated therapist on Character.AI – where users can design their own friends- has received more than 95 million messages from users since it was created.”
The IFS survey found that 57% of American young adults are against having an AI friend to simulate human interaction and provide emotional support, but that 10% are open to having an AI friend, with 1% already having it.
“Another one-third of young adults either have mixed feelings about AI friendships or are unsure whether they would befriend a chatbot. This large mixed/unsure group represents the possibility of a significant increase in users in future years.”
On the basis of gender, the survey found that men are more open to AI friendships than women, by a 13% to 9% difference. And young adults who spend more than six hours online per day are much more likely to express openness to AI friendships than those who spend less time online, at 16% for those spending more than six hours online, compared to 9% who spend under six hours.
The survey also asked respondents how they feel about the role of AI in society in the future. The responses were divided, 55% find AI technology threatening or concerning, while 45% find it either intriguing or exciting.
“That 1% of American young adults in the survey report having an AI friend is significant because it marks the beginning of a profound change in how we relate to one another: From a world where humans connect and form romantic bonds with each other to a world in which humans engage romantically with machines.”
