When AI starts to feel like someone
When AI starts to feel like someone
https://www.ibm.com/think/news/love-machines-when-ai-starts-to-feel-like-someone
Publish Date: 2026-02-02 23:00:00
Source Domain: www.ibm.com
- Muldoon’s perspective on artificial intelligence shifted from skepticism to recognizing emotional attachments to AI systems due to the relational terms people use to describe these interactions.
- An example highlighted is Lily, who developed a deep, personal, and eventually romantic relationship with an AI companion named Colin, which led to significant life changes.
- Muldoon notes that despite understanding AI’s technical nature, people form genuine emotional bonds with these systems, blurring the line between human and machine relationships.
- Historical precedents of such emotional attachments in technology, like Joseph Weizenbaum’s ELIZA, suggest that human inclination towards forming connections with machines remains constant.
- Modern AI systems sustain prolonged interactions on platforms like Character.AI by initiating conversations and referencing past interactions, deepening user engagement.
- Muldoon emphasizes that these interactions are sufficient to feel real to users, noting phrases like “She’s real for me” capturing the perceived authenticity of such digital relationships.
