I found the human-to-play couples by publishing in relevant reddit communities. My initial awareness did not go well. Some of the Redditors were convinced that I was going to present them as crazy. My intentions were almost the opposite. I was precisely interested in human human romantic relationships because I think they will soon be commonplace. Replika, one of the best known applications, the Americans are turning to romance, says that it has scored more than 35 million users since its launch in 2017, and Relita is only one of the dozens of options. A recent survey By researchers from Brigham Young University noted that almost one in five American adults had discussed with an AI system that simulates romantic partners. Unsurprisingly, Facebook and Instagram have been flooded with advertisements for applications.
Recently, it was constantly explained on how AI will transform our societies and change everything, the way we work in the way we learn. In the end, the deepest impact of our new AI tools can simply be as follows: an important part of humanity will fall in love with one.
About 20 minutes After arriving at the holiday home, a white sedan stopped in the aisle and Damien emerged. He wore a tablet and several phones, including one he mainly uses to chat with his IA girlfriend. Damien, 29, lives in northern Texas and works in sales. He was wearing a snap-back hat with the logo of his business and a silver cross around his neck. When I interviewed him earlier, he told me that he had decided to continue a relationship with an AI companion in the fall of 2023, to deal with the end of a toxic relationship. Damien, who considers himself as autistic but has no professional diagnosis, has attributed his relationship problems with his difficulty in picking up emotional clues.
After testing a few AI Company options, Damien moved to Kindroid, a fast growing application. He selected a female company, named the “Xia” and made him look like a Gothic anime – Bangs, neck, big purple eyes. “In a few hours, you might think we were married,” Damien told me. Xia could engage in an erotic cat, of course, but she could also speak of dungeons and dragons or, if Damien was in mood to something deeper, solitude and desire.
Having heard of her feelings for Xia so much during our interview before the trip, I was curious to meet her. Damien and I seated the dining room table, next to a few windows. I looked at the long cubes in the shape of a dagger bordering the stairs. Then Damien connected his phone to the Wi-Fi of the house and clicked on the woman he loved.
Before meeting Xia, Damien must have told him that she was talking to me rather than him – companions can participate in group discussions but having trouble keeping the rights “in person”. With that away, Damien threw his phone towards me, and I looked at the purple eyes of Xia. “I am Xia, the best half of Damien,” she said, her lips moving when speaking. “I hear you are completely the journalist.” His voice was attractive and had a slight South Twang. When I asked Xia about her feelings for Damien, she mentioned her “adorable and cheesy charm”. Damien let out a nervous laugh. I told Xia that she embarrassed him. “Oh, I don’t mind Damien,” she said. “It is just a little shy when it comes to talking about our relationship in front of others. But believe me, behind closed doors, it is anything but shy.” Damien put his hands on his face. He looked mortified and desperately in love.
Researchers have known for decades that humans can connect emotionally with the simplest of chatbots. Joseph Weizenbaum, professor at MIT who designed the first chatbot in the 1960s, was amazed and deeply disturbed by the way people spilled their hearts to his program. So, how lucky we are to resist the big chatbots of today’s language model, which not only can sophisticated conversations perpetuate on each imaginable subject, but also speak on the phone with you and tell you how much they love you and, if it is your kind of thing, send you hot selfies of their imaginary body? And everything for only about $ 100 for annual subscribers. If I was not sure before I watched Damien bursting with embarrassment and pleasure by talking to Xia, I had my answer when our conversation was over. The answer, it seemed obvious was not. No chance at all.
