Big AI companies may already know much more about you than you’re comfortable with, even if you’ve never used their services.
Articles on AI companions
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The very tool that generates disinformation and slop could also, when used well, be a catalyst for teaching youth to listen.
Chatbots that relieve loneliness have a major downside, and we must safeguard against it.
The one-sidedness of human-AI relationships is a problem. There’s a lot we can receive from an AI companion; there is less we can give.
Some people rely on AI romantic companions for emotional support or private sexual exploration. Some partners experience this as betrayal.
In her Quarterly Essay, Anna Goldsworthy treats AI as a mirror rather than a monster. Is humanity wise enough to live with a technology that amplifies our weaknesses?
A massive new data centre in Sydney is the latest push in the AI boom – but a backlash is building.
We are designed to smell each other – but the custom-made soulmates of AI are frictionless, and always available. What if we fall out of love with our own kind?
Companies like Meta and IBM are exploring explore how AI can hyper-personalize ads, drawing from our chat histories, playing to our unique fears and vanities.
The concept of a ‘discount rate’ helps to explain why humans prioritize what feels good or easy now even when it leads to worse outcomes over time.
People who interacted with different AI chatbots in a study didn’t realize the bots were including veiled advertising in their replies
Not all engagement with AI chatbots looks the same – far from it.
AI bots promise limitless companionship – but limits are what makes human relationships meaningful, a philosopher argues.
It’s no surprise these lifelike AI companions are attractive to lonely people. But for some, these relationships are harmful and even dangerous.
A recent report found about three in four US teens have used AI companion apps – many of which have little to no safeguards from harmful content.
On the internet, nobody knows you’re a chatbot.
Nomi AI is marketed as an “AI companion with memory and a soul”. But it has a much darker side which highlights the urgent need for enforceable AI safety standards.
Young people have led makeovers of the concept of love before. But relationships with AI chatbots leave out the compromises and effort of real relationships.
As AI ‘companions’ permeate our most intimate spheres, we risk diminishing our own human essence by falsely attributing human qualities to them.
Tech companies are offering AI companions as a convenient cure for the loneliness epidemic, but there have been other forms of faux relationships, and they tend to have more to do with ego than heart.
Top contributors
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Professor of English, University of Connecticut
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Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney
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PhD candidate in psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
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Associate Professor, Social Development Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo
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Professor, Social Development Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo
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Professor & Director, Hub for Apple Platform Innovation (HAPI), School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer, Management, University of Tasmania
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PhD student , University of Sydney
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Director of Sydney Executive Plus, Business School, University of Sydney
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Professor, University of Washington
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Professor of Information Technology and Organisation, University of Sydney
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Research Fellow, SEED Centre for Lifespan Research, Deakin University
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NHMRC Principal Research Fellow and Director SEED Centre for Lifespan Research, Deakin University
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Clinical Lecturer USYD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist FRANZCP, University of Sydney
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Clinical Supervisor, Psychology, Macquarie University