Katelyn Wilburn, Campus Carrier opinions editor
Can you love a person that doesn’t exist? This question has been raised many times with the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI). In a time when technology causes isolation, AI has brought a form of companionship for individuals that are struggling with social anxiety. Nonetheless, the development of romantic relationships with AI can lead to many unfortunate habits such as idealizing manipulative, one-sided relationships, blurs of ethical boundaries and emotional dependency on a computer-programmed system. AI education must be implemented by the government for all individuals, along with a mandatory regulation for companies’ AI programs. People also need to return to real-world, human relationships so they can experience more genuine connections.
When in a real-world conversation with someone, you can hear their true thoughts, feelings and issues on the subjects at hand. With AI, difficult conversations disappear and leave only the easy parts of relationships. But avoidance isn’t the best way to combat difficult situations. Humans need to engage in conversation to gain thoughtful and rounded opinions.
AI is far too easy to manipulate and coerce into receiving an opinion that validates your own. You do not experience this in real relationships, and although it isn’t the easiest, it is extremely beneficial to hear opinions that counter your own.
AI relationships also promote a one-sided mindset when it comes to romance. You can leave an AI chat for days without consequences, along with messaging toxic phrases with little to no pushback. The manipulative mindset that reinforces AI’s mission to please users brings difficult habits when re-experiencing
human romance.
An example of this is CNBC’s interview with Nikolai Daskalov regarding his romantic relationship with his AI companion, Leah.
“When you don’t want to talk, you don’t talk,” Daskalov said. “And when you feel like talking, they 100% hang on to your every word.”
Even if we can move past negative aspects of romantic relations with AI, we must consider emotional dependency. AI romance could be a tool to help individuals who suffer from the loneliness epidemic, giving them a way to regain social confidence in relational scenarios. This resource can become a crutch, and emotional isolation is prominent. AI is made to appease the user it is chatting with, and if someone has the perfect companion that never disagrees, it is difficult for an already isolated individual to see the importance of social interaction.
Since AI is always developing and consumers are finding new ways to apply it,
ethical boundaries are actively being drawn in the AI community through transparency and research. AI can produce explicit images, voice memos, and messages that are easily exploitable. If this media is normalized using AI, predator behavior will also be normalized consequentially.
FBI.gov released a case regarding David Tatum, a 41-year-old psychiatrist from Charlotte, North Carolina sentenced on child pornography charges through AI-generated imagery. Tatum took child photographs and used AI to convert them into sexually explicit images.
“Generative AI lets users easily create new content based on inputs, like existing images and detailed descriptions,” said FBI.gov “In Tatum’s case, inputs included old photographs of classmates and others who were under 18.”
Deepfakes have huge implications when considering AI as a romantic partner. Someone can create explicit images of someone without their consent, which is unethical and illegal.
The government should create regulations for users and companies to deter harmful language during AI chats and encourage responsible interactions, especially in relation to romantic relationships. AI education could vary from requiring guidelines to providing quizzes on how to use AI safely. We need to prioritize real-world relationships over the illusion AI can attempt to provide. Relationships with humans are unique due to their unpredictability, which is something AI will never attain through its programming. Either way, real relationships can help people retain well-rounded perspectives on life, encourage healthy disagreement and aid socially anxious individuals to find their people within the world.