A.I. Partners: Dystopian or Love at Last?

By: Elizabeth Martinez

In recent years, the sophistication of AI software has reached levels of unprecedented growth. The explosive boom in popularity of language-based AI models, such as Chat-GPT, has seen a shift towards incorporating AI further into our day-to-day lives. If used effectively, AI will enhance productivity in academic and professional environments, removing the need for mundane tasks and providing access to a wide range of digestible information with a simple prompt. However, there’s a pressing issue that remains unaddressed in this A.I. revolution: parasocial interactions.

According to Dr. Cynthia Vinney, “a parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship that a media user engages in with a media persona.” In the case of AI, parasocial relationships have evolved into more chat-based interactions.  Consumers of AI build a virtual relationship with a bot enabled with an algorithm suited to the user’s personality. Take for example influencer Caryn Majorie, claiming to be the “first influencer transformed into AI.” She said that her chatbot was a way to connect with all of her subscribers on a personal level and ultimately “cure loneliness.” 

 The effects of these interactions have been widely popularized in movies such as “Her,” showcasing the emotional interface between Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore and Samantha. In “Her,” a man falls in love with an electronic device. The movie explores crippling loneliness and the need to satiate it, but it explored a deus ex machina to the issue of dealing with your miserable, lonely life.

There has been discussion about whether AI companionship can be a viable solution to those who cannot form genuine relationships with other human beings. These bots can be the perfect companion, if you allow the algorithm to do so. According to Marco Denhert of Arizona State University, he says, “People say that only someone who is not successful with humans would turn to this or that users of this technology are “relational losers.” Because why would they turn to technology if they are successful in life? But what I’m seeing and what other researchers are also seeing is that actually people across society are using this technology, regardless of their job, social connections or friendships. It’s a much more diverse population than this stigma suggests. That’s for sure.” Others might argue that using AI girlfriends greatly weakens the inherent desire for genuine human connection.

There are countless programs designed to carry out the same function as Samantha such as Replika, DreamGF, Kupid AI, and FantasyGF. The popularity of this AI companionship is far beyond what our human ancestors could have ever imagined. But there is no doubt that we are exploring an undefined avenue: the possibility (or destined doom) of a profound relationship between human and machine.