this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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Half of Young Men Would Rather Date an AI Girlfriend Than Face Loneliness or Rejection, New Report Reveals (www.eznewswire.com)
submitted 1 day ago by Pro@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world
37 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/36855283

Comments

  • 50% of young men say they would rather date an AI girlfriend than risk rejection from a human partner
  • 31% of U.S. men aged 18–30 report already chatting with AI girlfriends
  • 19% of American adults overall say they have explored AI romance
  • 80% of Gen Z say they would consider a virtual relationship with an AI girlfriend
  • 83% of Gen Z believe they can form a deep emotional bond with AI companions
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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 7 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

I don’t get this at all.

  • I’m horrifically lonely. I’m basically a shut in. I need a hug.

  • I’ve got serious rejection anxiety, among other problems. But I used to have a lot of friends in the past, which makes it even worse.

  • I… Get attached to characters, like some in TV or wholesome NPCs in games. I wanna hug them.

  • I’m a local ML enthusiast. I’ve been tinkering with chatbots before ChatGPT was even a thing, including “RP” finetunes.

I’m the target market.

…And I don’t see the appeal of this?

It’s the same reason I don’t get why guys pay to gawk at (excuse me if this is insensitive) people twerking on OnlyFans or Instagram or whatever. There’s no human connection. Do guys really think thumbs-upping some performer behind a screen is emotional attention?

Same with chatbots. They can be cerebrally interesting story generators, sometimes, sure. Even an interesting ‘mirror’ to bounce private thoughts off of.

But a girlfriend?

I really don’t get it. I can’t empathize with that.

I don’t get the world at all, and how billions of people seem to think they’re in some kind of two-way human relationship with influencers or (apparently) chatbots. Where’s the connection?

And yeah, I saw this is a ad, but the idea itself is still weirdly interesting.

[–] ushmel@piefed.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I'm probably weird, but I'll throw some bucks at an OF just because it's cheap and I think the, uhh, content deserves some reward. But jfc the DMs are weird. No I don't need to chat with the porn girl. Just put the porn in the bag and you can have $5.