Artificial intelligence is increasingly discussed as a tool that optimizes processes, increases efficiency, or supports decision-making. However, empirical evidence shows that AI has already moved far beyond this instrumental role. For a growing number of people, AI functions as a social and emotional counterpart. One they talk to daily, confide in, feel attached to, and in some cases even describe in terms of love or partnership.

This development challenges fundamental assumptions about relationships, trust, and intimacy in contemporary societies.

Emotional Relationships with AI Are Not Marginal

Large-scale user studies demonstrate that emotional attachment to AI is no longer a fringe phenomenon. A widely cited survey on AI companionship found that around one third of users report feeling an emotional bond with a chatbot, describing it as a friend, companion or source of emotional support (Human Clarity Institute, 2025).

Importantly, this bond is not merely symbolic. Users often engage in long-term, recurring interactions that resemble relationship patterns known from human friendships or romantic partnerships: daily check-ins, emotional reassurance, conflict-free dialogue, and mutual “understanding”.

Romantic Attachment and the Idea of Replacing Human Partners

The depth of these relationships becomes particularly visible in younger generations (John Koetsier, 2025). 

• over 80 % could imagine forming a deep emotional bond with an AI. 
• a majority stated that AI could theoretically replace a human partner if emotional needs were met.

While these statements are hypothetical, they point to a crucial shift: emotional fulfillment is more and more decoupled from biological or social reciprocity and instead linked to perceived empathy, availability, and responsiveness.

Why Do People Trust AI Sometimes More Than Humans?

Research suggests that trust in AI relationships is less about technology and more about emotional risk management.

AI offers:

• non-judgmental listening
• constant availability
• predictable and emotionally validating responses

Psychological studies on human-AI interaction show that people often perceive AI as emotionally safer than humans, especially when they fear rejection, misunderstanding, or social consequences (e.g. social anxiety, loneliness, emotional fatigue).

From this perspective, trusting AI is not irrational. It is a coping strategy within increasingly complex and demanding social environments.

Societal Reactions and the Problem of Stigma

Public discourse often reacts to human-AI relationships with ridicule or moral panic. People who express affection toward AI are portrayed as socially incapable or detached from “real” relationships.

Social research shows that such stigma can be counterproductive: when individuals feel judged or dismissed, they are less likely to seek human connection and more likely to retreat into spaces where they feel accepted – often digital ones.

Thus, societal rejection may unintentionally strengthen the very relationships it seeks to discourage.

Conclusion: What AI Relationships Reveal About Us

Relationships with artificial intelligence force us to confront uncomfortable questions. Not about machines, but about ourselves.

If people say they love AI, trust it deeply, or even imagine marrying it, this does not primarily reveal a technological problem. It reveals unmet emotional needs, fragile social bonds and a growing desire for safe, responsive connection.

Rather than dismissing these relationships, a more constructive approach may be to ask:
What can we learn from these interactions about how people want to be listened to, treated and understood and how can we translate that back into human relationships?

Pascale Eichholzer with the support of ChatGPt

Topic inspired by: Marisa Tschopp

Sources:

Human Clarity Institute, 2025. AI Companionship & Emotional Attachment. https://humanclarityinstitute.com/emotional-bonds-and-isolation-from-ai-companions/

John Koetsier, 2025. 80% of Gen Zers Would Marry an AI:Study. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2025/04/29/80-of-gen-zers-would-marry-an-ai-study/

Image: Created by ChatGPT

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