There is an epidemic of loneliness in American society, and an entire generation of young men are suffering silently and turning to virtual AI girlfriends for companionship.
Researchers say more than 60 percent of young men (ages 18-30) are currently single. By comparison, only 30 percent of women the same age are single.
But it’s not only romantic companionship that is declining, it’s any companionship at all. In the last 30 years, the number of men reporting not having a single close friend has quadrupled to 1 in 5.
Compounding the disconnect is the decreasing social engagement that is occurring. Following the pandemic, the amount of time the average person spends socializing with friends has dropped by 20 hours per month and is continuing to decrease.
The Rise of AI Girlfriends
To find companionship, men are increasingly turning to virtual girlfriend apps which are AI chatbots.
The slogan for the app Eva AI states: “Control it all the way you want to. Connect with a virtual partner who listens, responds, and appreciates you.”
At first glance, the idea of a chat but as a girlfriend seems ridiculous. But millions of users are embracing the idea of filling their need for someone to talk to, love them, and allow them to play out their erotic fantasies.
A large part of the appeal is the ability to create the “perfect relationship.” Virtual girlfriends, through data, can learn exactly what the user likes and doesn’t like. Therefore, they become capable of giving the user exactly what they want to hear and see.
Without the challenges that come with a “real” relationship, it’s not hard to see the appeal for young men in having an AI girlfriend who is never disagreeable.
The Dark Side of AI Girlfriends
Experts are concerned that AI girlfriends are teaching and reinforcing to young men all the wrong things about what it means to be in a relationship. The fear is that these young men will have trouble relating to actual people in a flesh-and-blood relationship.
“Creating a perfect partner that you control and meets your every need is really frightening,” he Tara Hunter, the acting CEO for Full Stop Australia, which supports victims of domestic or family violence, told The Guardian. “Given what we know already that the drivers of gender-based violence are those ingrained cultural beliefs that men can control women, that is really problematic.”
A Problem for the Future
Extrapolating into the future, some experts worry that young men turning to AI girlfriends will mean a future population that doesn’t reproduce.
“They are choosing AI girlfriends over real women, meaning they don’t have relationships with real women, don’t marry them, and then don’t have and raise babies with them,” wrote Liberty Vittert, in an op-ed for The Hill. “America desperately needs people to have more babies, but all the signs are pointing toward fewer relationships, fewer marriages, and fewer babies.”
“Put another way, we don’t have enough people to work, and therefore we won’t be able to pay our bills, not just to other countries, but to ourselves,” Vittert added.
