AI Companionship Is Appealing, But It Comes With a Cost
By Susan Knight | The qualities that make AI companionship so appealing are the very same qualities that should give us pause.
Written by Susan Knight | Seeking Veritas Columnist | Sankarsingh-Gonsalves Productions
Whether you’re looking for intellectual stimulation, emotional support, encouragement, advice, or an in-depth chat about your favourite hobby, there’s an AI companion to meet your needs. And these non-human companions have clearly been highly successful at meeting needs, evidenced by the explosion in their use over the last few years. For example, the popular AI companion app Character AI had 28 million active users as of August 2024, and the website receives approximately 206 million visits per month. Users spend an average of 2 hours per day interacting with the site’s digital companions.
Customize your companion to suit your taste.
It’s easy to see why people find AI companionship so appealing. First, there’s the ability to customize aspects of the AI companion’s appearance such as hairstyle, hair and eye colour, and clothing style. Some platforms offer enhanced features in this area, enabling users to manipulate a character’s body type to their liking, well beyond anything remotely resembling how any real-life person could possibly look.
There’s also the ability to customize the AI companion’s personality traits, tone, and interests based on one’s preferences and desires. Whether you’re passionate about football or foreign films, you can customize your companion to share your knowledge and enthusiasm in the area of your choosing. And whether you want your companion to be professional or playful, erudite or frivolous, empathetic or edgy, you get to decide the extent to which your companion will display these and other attributes. But that’s just the start!
None of the difficulties of real-world relationships.
Your AI companion is never busy, tired, or preoccupied; it is always available and prepared to give you “his” or “her” full, undivided attention. It has no needs, desires, requests, or expectations of its own, except the ones you choose to give it based on your customization choices. It can’t be hurt, offended, or angered by anything you say. Sure, it might communicate that something you said was hurtful, offensive, or inappropriate, but there are no consequences; it won’t hold a grudge, withdraw, or give you the silent treatment. There is no baggage to deal with, no power struggles to contend with, and no conflicts to resolve. In short, there are none of the complications and difficulties that occur in real-world relationships, and therein lies both the appeal and the danger.
The very same qualities which make AI companionship so appealing are also the qualities that make it potentially harmful. In these virtual relationships, the user bypasses all the challenges, expectations, limitations, and imperfections present in any real relationship with a real person. With an AI companion, the user is at the centre of the relationship, always being indulged and catered to, for the entire duration of the relationship.
Room for AI companion apps to have positive impact.
Of course, as with any form of technology, there’s plenty of room for AI companion apps to have a positive impact. A prime example of this would be the many apps that specialize in providing counselling and mental health support. One such app is Woebot, an AI companion app designed to provide on-demand support to people struggling with anxiety or depression. Developed by Stanford psychologists and AI experts, Woebot:
Utilizes cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles.
Offers mood tracking, mindfulness exercises, and gratitude journaling.
Provides personalized conversations and support for mood and anxiety management.
For someone who is relatively stable but in need of some targeted support and practical strategies, an AI companion providing this kind of guidance through empathetic, non-judgemental, conversational interactions can be extremely valuable. This type of therapeutic application is very different, however, from the use of AI companions as an easy, convenient substitute for real relationships, in the real world, which require real work.
Real-world relationships: challenges and expectations.
Real-world relationships possess all manner of challenges, expectations, and limitations. Be it a friend, spouse, family member, neighbour, or coworker, in the real world, people aren’t always exactly as we would wish them to be. In fact, they rarely are. We don’t get to control how the people we engage with look, nor do we get to select their personality traits and interests. Our fellow humans, even those who love us dearly, don’t always respond to us the way we would like them to. Unlike an AI companion, a real person may be busy, tired, or preoccupied at a time when we want their attention. In real life relationships mistakes are made, feelings get hurt, forgiveness is needed, and work is required to restore trust and intimacy.
In the real world, everyone we interact with comes to the table with their own concerns, priorities, and desires. What happens when issues arise and we don’t see eye to eye? What happens when opinions differ and we’re struggling to get on the same page? Unlike dealing with an AI companion, dealing with real people in the real world requires effort, consideration, and compromise. In the real world, if someone expects to be at the centre of a relationship, always being indulged and catered to, with no awareness or consideration of the other party’s needs, it doesn’t bode well for the success of the relationship.
Short-term appeal vs. long-term consequences.
We can reasonably conclude that AI companion apps won’t be going away any time soon. On the contrary, all indicators point not just to an increased reliance on these virtual relationships, but also their expansion into more areas of our lives. For instance, we’re already witnessing a growing number of men and women opting for AI girlfriends and boyfriends over human ones, a trend that is rapidly moving from the outer margins of society to the mainstream. Nevertheless, it would be a mistake not to give consideration to the potential risks associated with AI companionship in any capacity. As with so many other areas in life, easy and appealing in the short term does necessarily equate to healthy and beneficial over the long term.
About the author: Susan Knight | SGP Featured Writer | Contact the author: @ http://skfreelance.com
Susan is certified health and wellness coach with a focus on personal growth and inner wellness. She was a regular contributor to Social Work Today Magazine and is a featured Health & Wellness Columnist for SGP.
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