Public conversation about AI companions is accelerating—often with equal parts curiosity and concern. Intimacy and technology can be the perfect ingredients for a moral panic. That dynamic is now coming into sharper focus as widely used AI chat systems increasingly engage with questions of closeness, care, and emotional connection.
At INTITEC, Dr. Jessica Szczuka (with Jaime Banks) is examining how media narratives frame romantic and intimate relationships with AI—where the evidence supports concern, where hype takes over, and how we can move toward clearer concepts and better data.
Why this conversation matters
- From novelty to normalization: As chat systems become more responsive and “human-like,” they invite real feelings—and real questions about mental health, agency, and privacy.
- Conceptual clarity is overdue: Labels such as “parasocial,” “synthetic,” or “replacement” relationship can obscure more than they reveal. We need theories that capture the full variety of human–AI bonds.
- Evidence over alarmism: Early findings should inform design and policy—without collapsing into dystopian headlines or utopian promises.
Thoughtful journalism helps
In recent weeks, Jessica spoke with journalists from DIE ZEIT, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung:
Here are recent perspectives approaching the topic from different angles (in German):
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