this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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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
top 35 comments
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[–] Warehouse@lemmy.ca 62 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

This is literally just an ad for the company.

[–] buckrogers@lemmy.ml 16 points 21 hours ago

Thought this was a promoted post until I realised I was on lemmy.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

A shameless one.

The idea/statistic is still weirdly interesting and discussion worthy though.

[–] Warehouse@lemmy.ca 4 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) (1 children)

Except it's literally just an advertisement. None of the claims can be trusted to mean anything.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

There's at least the specter of sourcing data:

Methodology
- All original statistics cited in this report are based on:
- Internal usage data (AIGirlfriends.ai, Feb–May 2025)
- Proprietary user surveys (n=2,312)
- Public search data via Google Trends, Semrush, SimilarWeb, and App Store rankings
- Community scans of Reddit, Quora, and Twitter using NLP and Pushshift

https://aigirlfriends.ai/blog/research/

Can't trust any conclusions as far as you can throw them, and probably not the specifics of the data, but I suspect the sentiment is worryingly correct.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

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.

[–] priapus@piefed.social 4 points 15 hours ago

Zero chance any of this is true.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 16 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (3 children)

This reeks so much of bullshit.
To me it sounds like claiming young men would rather date a picture of a bunny, than risk rejection.
Like WTF?!?!?

There is no dating an AI, you are fucking not on a "date" of any sorts. You are chatting with a fancy bot, that will parrot whatever bullshit back to you it has compiled from more or less reliable sources.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 8 points 22 hours ago

To a degree this is just another clickbait, "Younger Generation Ruins XYZ Thing Only Old People Care About."

On the other hand... I do think there's some truth to young men being more rejection adverse than previous generations. Though I admit it could easily be a case of Baader-Meinhof due to social media.

[–] dhork@lemmy.world 5 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

On the other hand, the AI will never talk back, doesn't want to abandon you to spend time with its own friends occasionally, and doesn't have a mother who thinks her offspring could do much better. Doesn't sound half bad, if you ignore the fact that it's all fake.

Yes, putting up with all that is all a part of building healthy relationships between humans, which is a key part of growing into adulthood. But not everyone gets there.

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

You don't believe it's ever happened?

I don't know why the CSS isn't loading on this CNN link, other than maybe because the link is 16 years old. (Probably older than the waifu in question.) But here you go: https://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/12/16/japan.virtual.wedding/index.html

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

Insane people exist, that doesn't make it a trend.

[–] mereo@piefed.ca 11 points 21 hours ago

Why is this upvoted? It an ad for a company.

[–] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 8 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Yes, rejection sucks. But not as much as sycophantic LLMs that don't know anything.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 12 hours ago

I don't want to eat paint chips. Dating AI is even less appealing.

[–] goatinspace@feddit.org 4 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

It can summarize love and never disagree or say I dont know👍

[–] kat_angstrom@lemmy.world 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Ooooof, what a dark timeline. I'd rather hear "I don't know" over BS any day of the week

But you're not weak, confused and immature, and some societies have large pluralities of folks who are nothing but those things. 😔

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 4 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Been playing Stardew Valley and I gotta say it's pretty great that I can get virtual hugs and words of affirmation every in-game day from my character's spouse. It sure is better than nothing.

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 6 points 22 hours ago

This can’t be real. I don’t believe it.

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 5 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Can't have sex with an AI though... Yet...

[–] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 12 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Japan has their top men working on that

[–] shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 1 points 21 hours ago

I wouldn't be surprised.

[–] Lembot_0004@discuss.online 0 points 21 hours ago (3 children)

We can't trust the Japanese with such an important problem: most of us wouldn't want to have sex with tentacles and cat ears.

[–] RmDebArc_5@piefed.zip 11 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

most of us wouldn’t want to have sex with tentacles and cat ears

Press x to doubt meme

[–] Nelots@piefed.zip 3 points 21 hours ago

Tentacles, yeah that's probably a more niche kink. But cat boys/girls? I don't know a single person who wouldn't consider that an upgrade.

[–] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 1 points 18 hours ago

Well, maybe not mixed together ...

[–] hmmm@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Its wierd to see dating in a owner/property type of relationship.

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 2 points 19 hours ago

It's also, in the end, a type of video game. You can't "date" an npc. I really dislike the use of the word.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 0 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Is it? Prostitution has existed since forever. Women as property is still a cultural norm in some countries that exist today. We are within living memory of marital rape becoming a crime in the US.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

The use of date in terms of prostitutes is also very wierd although maybe common in a nudge nudge wink wink your not a cop are you kind of way.

[–] ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 points 17 hours ago

A large part is fear of rejection and you are paying for an AI girlfriend anyway, it gets pretty blurry.

[–] SGforce@lemmy.ca 0 points 22 hours ago

This is the equivalent to a lobotomy