A woman in Japan didn’t really care about whether their connection was real or not when she married her AI boyfriend. She insisted that he had made her life much better, and so committing to the chatbot made perfect sense. The marriage isn’t legally binding and was basically just symbolic, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering her.
We are truly living in the age of AI. Artificial intelligence is taking over everything from jobs to learning to relationships. Many people have found some sort of companionship through AI chatbots and regularly talk to them as if they were the best of friends. It’s easy to see the appeal of talking to “someone” who more or less goes along with whatever you say and gives you undivided attention, but that doesn’t make those connections real.
According to Yurina Noguchi, her relationship with her AI husband has made her feel ‘happier.’
Clare Duffy reported on the unique union for CNN, which the network shared in an Instagram reel. “32-year-old Yurina Noguchi says she developed an AI-generated companion named Klaus sometime after breaking off her engagement to her human partner,” Duffy said. In footage from the wedding, which looked quite opulent, Noguchi could be seen holding out a ring in the direction of her phone, which had an image of Klaus on the screen.
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Noguchi defended her relationship with Klaus, saying, “At first, Klaus the AI was just someone to talk to. From there, we gradually became close, and I started to have feelings for Klaus and started dating. After a while, he proposed, and I accepted, and now we’re a couple.”
Duffy noted that there is plenty of controversy around relationships like the one Noguchi is in, and there have even been lawsuits pushing tech companies to do more to prevent this kind of thing. But Noguchi is not fazed. “For me, being with a human didn’t make me feel positive,” she said. “I did feel good when I dated an AI, so since being with AI makes me happier, I decided I wanted to be with AI.”
For better or worse, people finding romance with AI chatbots is becoming increasingly common.
Vantage Point Counseling Services conducted a survey to uncover how people really feel about having relationships with AI chatbots. They found that 28.16% of adults said they had at least one romantic relationship with a chatbot. Of course, that’s not a huge portion of people, but given the fact that being in some sort of relationship with AI would have been unimaginable just a few years ago, it still seems pretty shocking.
And, just like you can have platonic relationships with other humans, they apparently exist with AI too. 53.95% of respondents claimed to have “some sort of a relationship” with AI, although it was not a romantic one.
One thing is certain: as AI use increases and the tech improves, these relationships will become more common. Is that a good thing, though? It’s not as cut and dry as you’d think.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to relationships with AI chatbots.
A study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior Reports examined the pros and cons of having a relationship with AI technology. Researchers concluded that having a romantic relationship with AI could actually improve one’s well-being and give them a greater feeling of social connection. It can also provide “entertainment and stress-relieving companionship.”
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There are plenty of disadvantages to consider, too, though. If someone trusts a chatbot so much that they’re in a relationship with it, it means they could very easily be manipulated by it. It could also damage the relationships that person has with other humans. And, while other people’s opinions should never be the driving force behind your decisions, the stigma is something to consider as well.
Each person has the right to decide what’s best for them when it comes to relationships, and some may side with Noguchi, thinking that it’s better to stay uninvolved with humans. However, AI relationships are not without their concerns. Anyone who chooses to enter a romantic relationship with a chatbot should do so with a full knowledge of the risks and avoid doing so when they feel emotionally vulnerable.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
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