AI girlfriend apps fuelling unhealthy relationship expectations?

A decade ago, Joaquin Phoenix fell in love with his AI companion Samantha in the Spike Jonze movie Her.

Cut to the present, chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard, which are increasingly getting better at mimicking human conversation, have opened doors for individuals to design their perfect AI partners.

“Have you ever dreamed about the best girlfriend ever? Almost for sure! Now she can be at your fingertips,” reads the slogan for AI girlfriend app Romantic AI.

Meanwhile, a Silicon Valley company, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has uploaded a tutorial to GitHub outlining how to create customisable “AI companions” with configurable personalities and backstories.