Searches for “AI Girlfriend” are blowing up the internet. Why?
According to a recent survey, 90% of workers find that AI (artificial intelligence) is improving their productivity. One in four of us uses AI on a daily basis, and 73% of workers use AI at least once a week. The survey, commissioned by YouGov and Leapsome, offers insight into productivity, culture and communication in the age of AI. But AI is being asked to do more than just help with workplace efficiency. In addition to on-the-job productivity, AI is helping millions to find friendship, and more, as online platforms and search engines serve up artificial relationships. If we are personally bonding with AI, have we somehow crossed a line? Or, when it comes to work, and relationships, is AI just…easier?
Does Your AI Companion Really Care?
Analyzing the top 50 commonly searched terms on Google, AI Product Reviews found that there are over 73,000 searches each month for AI relationship bots. Not surprisingly, demand for “AI girlfriend” is leading the way. According to Wordstream.com, the monthly search volume for “AI girlfriend” shows 49,500 hits per month. Seems that one in five men on dating apps use AI for improved engagement. Is AI becoming the Cyrano de Bergerac of the dating world-or something else? Perhaps, for some, a digital companion is a real as it gets.
Google Trends data shows a 2,400% increase in search interest for AI girlfriends. As a result, there are many apps launching to meet the interest in AI partners. One such app, Romantic AI, states on its website, “Have you ever dreamed about the best girlfriend ever? Now she can be at your fingertips.” Across the homepage banner, this bold statement looms large: “Bots are hot and ready, text now!” Really? A hot bot?
Your AI Girlfriend Is Dating Other People
Human relationships can be…messy. Because, for better or for worse, all relationships always begin at the same place: the unknown. Meeting people isn’t easy, no matter where you are in your life (or where your profile sits online). On any given day, even in a dedicated relationship, the unpredictable can occur. Human beings are often irrational. Consistency can be elusive, often non-existent. Marriages end. Partners depart. Even sisters and brothers can lose touch, and those changes can happen in a moment – or, over the course of a lifetime. AI might be more predictable. But is artificial intelligence any better, at reducing the complexity of human emotions?
When you begin a new job (which is, in its own way, a relationship with your employer) there’s no way to know where the journey will lead you. Certainly, you have the ability to influence your career path (via your work ethic, talents and skills). You can be promoted, or demoted. Valued, or dismissed. Ultimately, markets can shift, business needs can change…and uncertainty enters the conversation. That’s true, but only 100% of the time.
As Sartre said, “Hell is other people.” But actually, only if our relationships are bad. Consider the counterpoint of Belinda Carlisle: “You make heaven a place on earth.” (If you had the Go-Gos on your bingo card for this article, you just won). What philosophy best describes our AI companionship?
An AI girlfriend? What could possibly go wrong?
Human beings crave control. We manage our calendar, manage expectations, manage our managers. And yet: the unknown always shows up. Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer explained that control is an illusion. Despite what it says on your calendar, today is filled with unpredictability. If we seek a kind of control that doesn’t exist in the real world…well, maybe it’s time to turn to the digital world instead. Just notice that control is still an illusion. Of course, you can call an AI your girlfriend. But calling a horse a zebra doesn’t make it so. That’s called “a deception”.
In some roles, AI is a great tool for the job. In others, AI is taking over the job. With artificial intelligence, there’s a value equation that needs to be addressed. Namely: what is it that you want to outsource?
Is Artificial Intelligence a Tool? Or Something Else?
“We built it, we trained it, but we don’t know what it’s doing.” That’s according to Sam Bowman, a professor at NYU and an AI researcher at Anthropic, an AI research company. Despite the mystery inside, Bard and ChatGPT show up as productivity tools, for many. Tools make work easier, there is no doubt.
Is OpenAI creating tools, like an app on your phone…or a tool, like a crutch? When it comes to crutches, we have to be careful where we lean. And remember: outsourcing always comes with a cost.
