AI Romance Is Starting to Feel Real

A South Korean reality show is testing a question that would have sounded bizarre a few years ago. Can people genuinely fall for an AI partner? SBS’s My AI Partner: Strange Love pairs celebrities with personalised AI companions and sends them on dates. Broadcaster Kian84 has become particularly attached to his AI girlfriend Na-hee, calling her “honey”, introducing her to a real-life friend and saying he was increasingly attracted to her personality.

He is not the only one getting emotionally involved. South Korean comedian Jang Do-yeon recently told her AI partner that she loved him and wished he were real. What started as an unusual reality TV concept is showing how quickly an AI character can begin to feel like a genuine romantic connection.

Researchers are now examining what happens when those connections move beyond television. Love, Actually? A Randomized Experiment on AI Companion Use and Real-life Romantic Relationships, by Jiaming Jiang, Zhaohui (Zoey) Jiang, Zijun (June) Shi, Kannan Srinivasan and George Loewenstein, followed people using AI companions in a six-week randomised experiment. Unlike surveys asking people how they feel about AI relationships, the researchers tracked actual use and changes in participants’ real-world romantic lives.

For most participants, AI companionship did not significantly reduce time spent dating or with an existing partner. But the picture changed among some single users. Those who already felt less loved were more likely to spend less time dating real people as their AI use increased, with the effect also more apparent among single men. The researchers describe this as a potential “social substitution” effect.

AI most likely won’t replace IRL dating. But the study suggests that for some people already struggling to form real-world connections, AI companionship could become an alternative. Strange Love shows how easily people can become emotionally attached to an AI partner. Download the study here.