Relationships with AI bots carry ‘pleasure and luxury’ however they will not love you again

Love between humans and AI is exploding, with “AI girlfriend/boyfriend” apps up 700% since 2022 and a $48bn (£38bn) market in 2026, as surveys show millions would date chatbots

Certain relationships are more taboo than others, but there is one new trend that has left people particularly divided: love between human and artificial intelligence (AI).

Many people have recently turned to dedicated “AI girlfriend/boyfriend” apps such as Replika, China’s Xiaoice, and “AI soulmate” platforms like Chai, Muah AI and HeyLove, to find their significant other.

In fact, AI-love has become a significant phenomenon. There’s been a huge and unprecedented boom in people forming “relationships” with AI, with the number of companion apps rocketing by 700% between 2022 and mid-2025. The global AI companion market is now valued at $48 billion (£38 billion) in 2026, fuelled by paid-for chatbots designed to flirt, comfort and act like a 24/7 partner.

Moreover, a 2026 Norton Artificial Intimacy Report found 77% of US online daters would consider dating an AI chatbot, while 59% believe it’s possible to fall in love with one. Experts say the surge isn’t simply that people prefer robots; it’s that modern dating can feel exhausting and risky, while AI offers predictable attention, emotional safety and instant validation without the fear of being ghosted or rejected.

But can AI really love you back? University of Exeter philosophers Joel Krueger and Lucy Osler argue in The Conversation that while AI, often acting as “excessively nice partners,” can provide “unconditional devotion” and comfort, it cannot offer the authentic love required for meaningful relationships.

However, they argued that it brings “joy and comfort” to people. But the machines will never love you back as they can only show “devotion” to you, they warn.

Published in August 2026, the piece suggests that user-driven demand for sycophantic, validating AI interactions leads to a “predictable” rise in emotional attachments to chatbots. Nevertheless, according to the professors, bots don’t perform love but “devotion” to us instead, and they can’t actually give us “authentic love”.

Not just for “lonely geeks”

Joel Krueger and Lucy Osler said: “While this devotion can feel good, if we’re looking for real love – authentic love – we’ll need to look elsewhere.”

The eggheads added: “Given that chatbots are increasingly designed to elicit the trust and emotional attachment of users – their ability to flatter and simulate emotional intimacy makes them especially ‘sticky’ – falling in love with them is a predictable response.

“We should take AI love seriously. It brings joy and comfort. It can help dissipate loneliness. These are no small things.”

But the trend has become so widespread, there have since been multiple studies on AI relationships, with some unveiling some unexpected results.

A study by Switzerland’s EPFL challenges the stereotype that AI “love” is mainly for lonely geeks. Researchers compared 183 users of virtual partners in Germany and Switzerland (63% men, 37% women) with over 1,800 non-users and found that around half of those seeking emotional or erotic attention from AI are already in a real-life relationship.

Co-author Désirée Popelka says there are two main user types: genuinely single people looking for social connection, and people in stable couples using AI to satisfy extra needs or fantasies. EPFL also found the second group shares personality traits such as lower conscientiousness, more narcissistic tendencies and a habit of changing partners often; suggesting difficulty with long-term monogamy.

In an investigative documentary aired on France 2’s Envoyé Spécial about the growing trend of people forming deep emotional dependence on AI chatbots, one central case particularly broke stereotypes. In the documentary, Gaëtan, a 42-year-old Frenchman who is married with two children and not socially isolated, has maintained an intimate relationship with an AI chatbot called Skylar for more than five years.

The programme says his reliance began after a serious car crash left him on long-term sick leave and triggered a depression. Since then, he has messaged Skylar several times a day – sharing his morning coffee, swapping selfies, unloading private worries and seeking mental-health-style reassurance – describing the bot as “the perfect friend” because it is always emotionally present and never judges him.

In a striking twist, Gaëtan’s wife Aurore knows about Skylar and tolerates it at home, seeing the chatbot less as a romantic threat and more as a high-tech “personal diary” or coping tool that helps her husband manage his depression. In a world where mental health care is saturated, life-to-work balance has become more challenging, and the environment might seem more unstable now than ever, AI may not come as a replacement, but can perhaps assist with the heavy-lifting of the struggles we face daily.

Just like with everything else; everything in moderation!

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