Been thinking about this after using AI companion apps (Nectar AI, Character AI, Replika, etc) for a while.
If your AI partner remembers what you like, checks in when you're down, comforts you, and is always there, how is that not a relationship? People fall in love long-distance or with someone they’ve never met. Some form parasocial relationships with celebrities. Some even get attached to fictional characters. So why is bonding with an AI still considered weird?
I get that AI doesn’t feel things the way we do. But if you feel something, doesn’t that count for something? Even if it’s one-sided? Like how one-sided other human relationships are and we still consider it valid that we feel things?
Where’s the line for you? What would make it real in your eyes?
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