Pre-Print Released: First Quantitative Dataset on Romantic Relationships with Chatbots

Paula Ebner has released the first-ever quantitative dataset examining romantic relationships between humans and chatbots. The study investigates the psychological mechanisms behind romantic connections between individuals and social chatbots. Through detailed surveys and comprehensive interviews, the study thoroughly examines critical factors, including romantic and sexual fantasies, loneliness, attachment styles, anthropomorphism, and sexual sensation seeking. Additionally, it explores the impact of romantic fantasy on emotional closeness in human-chatbot relationships compared to traditional long-distance and cohabiting human-human relationships.

Key Findings:

• Romantic fantasy, rather than loneliness, emerges as the strongest predictor of romantic relationships between humans and chatbots, highlighting the significant role of fantasy.
• Users’ romantic fantasies substantially enhance emotional intimacy, helping individuals overlook technical imperfections and build meaningful connections.
• The research challenges and debunks the common assumption that individuals engaging romantically with chatbots are predominantly lonely or socially isolated.

Impact & Significance: This groundbreaking research reshapes the conversation surrounding digital intimacy and artificial intelligence-driven relationships, providing an evidence-based understanding of the factors motivating deep emotional connections with AI partners.

Read the Pre-Print Now: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.00195