Rise in AI girlfriends making male loneliness worse, professor calls it 'silent epidemic'

The report suggested that finding solutions that balance technological advancements with the preservation of employment opportunities is paramount.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being used by people from all over the world. While it is a boon for some people, others find it a bane, as AI has put their jobs at risk. Now, it has started an epidemic as well. Liberty Vittert, a professor of the practice of data science at Olin Business School said that the availability of AI girlfriends is making male loneliness worse, according to Business Insider.

There has been a sharp increase in AI girlfriends in the US. That, in turn, has resulted in a rise in loneliness among young men. According to the news outlet, Vittert asked her students about the social media apps that they were using. She claimed that she was taken aback when one of her male students told her that he had an “AI-girlfriend”.

“It surprised me that he came out and said it so openly," she told Business Insider. "I think AI girlfriends have been around for a while but they've become increasingly more mainstream so people are willing to talk about them,” Vittert said.

Meanwhile, there has been an increase in apps where people can interact with AI girlfriends.

Replika, a popular app, provides AI-powered digital partners and has surged in popularity in recent years. The app hit more than 10 million users in 2022 after seeing a 35% increase during the global pandemic.

As per Business Insider, Vittert published her thoughts on the phenomenon in an op-ed in The Hill. “It's not a virtual girlfriend, it's a girlfriend that by definition learns from you, what you like and what you don't like," she said.

“The AI girlfriend never has a bad day so these men have these perfect relationships and never have to deal with the ups and the downs of a real relationship,” she added. According to her, AI girlfriends are making men choose bots over a new relationship.

“These AI girlfriends are enabling this silent epidemic of loneliness that we've seen amongst young men. We see females always report having more close friends or having wider groups of friends. They don't seem to be as psychologically prey to this AI lifestyle as men."

In 2022, data from Pew Research Centre showed that only 34% women are single as compared to 63% in men.

“The prevalence of these AI girlfriends has increased so dramatically over the past couple of years," Vittert said.

"They're also getting advanced quickly. We're going from AI girlfriends who you text with to ones you can send pictures with. There's this very quick blend of the physical and the emotional."