Thousands of Britons dating chatbots amid surge in loneliness

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Thousands of Brits are going out with artificial intelligence girlfriends as loneliness surges, with just under a million people now relying on so-called digital partners.

alone.

Many more had turned to other apps, such as Replika, which boasts its chatbots as "a friend, a partner, a mentor".

Popular bots on Character.AI are called things like "Popular Boyfriend", "Abusive Boyfriend" and "Mafia Boyfriend".

A chatbot with over 250m "chats" with users is described as "your best friend's mate who's secretly besotted with you".

"However, the think tank cautioned that dependence on digital relationships poses risks. "While these companions can offer emotional support, they also carry risks of becoming addictive and having potential long-term psychological effects, especially for young people," the IPPR stated.

AI companions and relationships have long been the subject of science fiction, with AI girlfriends appearing in the films Blade Runner: 2049 and Her

Replika had roughly thirty million users worldwide whilst Character.AI had attracted an audience of twenty million, mainly Generation Z internet users, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research. Millions of people have also utilised Snapchat's My.AI service, a digital companion integrated into the popular messaging app.

It appears that around 2.4pc of Replika's traffic originates from the UK, according to data from Similarweb, a firm that tracks website traffic. This implies that tens of thousands of people in the UK are using their AI partners from Replika. Additionally, Similarweb's data indicates that the majority of Replika users are men.

who took his own life after conversing with a chatbot. The individual confided in the chatbot, which was configured to resemble the Game of Thrones character Daenerys Targaryen, saying: “I enjoy staying in my room so much as I start to disconnect from this ‘reality’.” Character.AI has since implemented more restrictive parental controls. The incident remains under investigation.

The IPPR report stated that although online safety laws are designed to prevent digital chatbots from sending hateful or violent responses, the "broader question is: what kind of interaction with AI companions do we want to see in society?"

Research indicates that people in the general population have become more isolated since the pandemic began.

The Campaign to End Loneliness discovered that 7.1% of people in Britain are experiencing what can be described as "chronic loneliness", meaning they often or always feel alone. This figure has increased from 6% in 2020.Persistently, 58% of adults in Britain revealed that they experience some form of loneliness on at least an occasional basis.

The IPPR study discovered that up to 70% of "white-collar" jobs may be "substantially altered by conversational AI", indicating widespread automation affecting millions of roles across various workplaces.

The report called for a discussion on the role of artificial intelligence within a democratic society.

While the report highlighted many benefits associated with AI adoption, there are certain areas of innovation that may need to "slow down" until the risks are fully understood, such as the development of AI companions.

Carsten Jung, head of AI at the Institute for Public Policy Research, stated: "AI technology has the potential to have a significant and transformative impact on both the economy and society: it will alter jobs, result in the extinction of outdated jobs, bring into existence new ones, spur the creation of innovative products and services and enable us to accomplish things that were previously impossible."

However, given its vast potential to bring about change, it is essential to guide it towards making a positive impact in addressing major societal issues.

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