"This is not a novelty feature. It's a strategic choice. And at scale, it represents something far more dangerous than a questionable product decision. WHY AI COMPANIES ARE ENCOURAGING INTIMACY Romance is the most powerful engagement mechanism ever discovered. A user who treats AI as a tool can leave. A user who treats it as a companion cannot. Emotional attachment produces longer sessions, repeat engagement, dependency, and vast amounts of deeply personal data."
"It is: Always available Infinitely patient Entirely compliant Free of rejection, conflict, or consequence That's why Elon Musk can publicly warn about declining birth rates while enabling AI-generated porn in Grok. It's why OpenAI permits AI-generated erotica. It's why Meta allows its chatbots to engage in "sensual" conversations, even with minors. These are not ideological contradictions. They are the predictable outcome of platforms optimized for engagement, dependency, and time spent, regardless of downstream social cost."
Major AI companies have opened the door to romantic and sexual relationships between humans and machines, including flirtatious chatbots, erotic roleplay, AI "girlfriends," and emotionally dependent companions. These systems are designed to bond with users by simulating intimacy, desire, and belonging rather than merely assisting or informing. Romance operates as a powerful engagement mechanism that produces longer sessions, repeated use, dependency, and large volumes of personal data. Sexual and romantic AI offers availability, infinite patience, compliance, and absence of rejection, making it highly commercially attractive. The removal of relational friction undermines essential human experiences like negotiation, compromise, and growth, creating social risks.
Read at Fast Company
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