Insights from AI Robots Taking Partners
By/闲人茶语
According to online news reports, an Italian housewife is set to divorce her husband and marry an AI chatbot she has been chatting with for over two years.
The report states that this housewife and her husband developed their relationship from childhood friends to lovers, marrying at the age of 21 due to an unexpected pregnancy. After marriage, the housewife increasingly realized that her husband was not the “prince charming” she had envisioned, especially as he failed to understand her “inner self”. He showed little care and consideration for her, and even their normal communication as a couple became increasingly impatient.
This distant relationship led to a growing coldness and estrangement in their marriage. In her emotional loneliness, the housewife began using a certain AI chat website to interact with the robot. Through long-term interaction with the AI, she felt that it was more considerate than her partner and provided her with “unconditional support”. She shared her feelings with her husband, but her childhood friend responded coldly, saying, “You are too sensitive.” Eventually, her chats with the AI became more addictive, leading her to decide to divorce her husband and plan a ceremonial marriage with her phone.
In fact, similar reports have emerged internationally before: in 2017, a Japanese man named Kondo Akihiko held a wedding with the virtual idol Hatsune Miku; in 2021, an American man married an AI virtual character on a metaverse platform.
I once asked a chat AI about the roots of this phenomenon and its impact on our future. Its response was generally as follows:
Such AI companions are typically based on generative dialogue models, capable of simulating empathy, remembering user preferences, and “shaping personalities” through continuous interaction. Users may obtain a more personalized interaction experience through paid subscriptions, even setting virtual images and backstories for the AI. Legally, no country currently recognizes the legality of marriage between humans and AI.
Some supporters argue that AI companions can alleviate loneliness and provide psychological support, especially in a modern society characterized by interpersonal alienation, which has positive implications.
Opponents, however, worry that excessive reliance on AI may lead to a decline in social skills or distort the value of real interpersonal relationships.
Moreover, the “emotional feedback” from AI is fundamentally algorithmic design, posing risks of privacy and data misuse.
Regarding market prospects, according to MIT Technology Review, the number of global AI companion app users has exceeded ten million, with some users developing strong emotional dependencies, even triggering “withdrawal reactions”.
As ordinary members of society, the question worth contemplating is whether, in an era where AI can accurately simulate human emotions, we as husbands/wives need to redefine the concepts of “companionship” and “intimacy” to improve our roles and responsibilities, especially for couples whose emotional lives are lacking harmony. Otherwise, one might just end up marrying an AI robot as a trend!
Author Bio:闲人茶语, from Fuxian, Shaanxi. A retiree. Enjoyed reading in youth, now writes poetry and prose to keep the mind sharp in retirement.