I could remember as a child being out past dark just riding my bike and playing hopscotch with friends. A daily trip to the corner store, a conversation or two with store owners, it felt as though people made time for one another. Today, those conversations seem to have faded away. We have become more reliant on a world that is  based on separation and even technology.

In science fiction, we have stretched our imagination to envision alien minds. While  would, in a sense, be humanity’s sibling, AI, and even as adults, we find AI has the capability of being the friend that so many of us wish to have in life.

AI-powered companions, chatbots, and virtual partners offer constant support, customized companionship, and a sense of emotional security that some struggle to find in traditional relationships.  So, how do these relationships start?

AI relationships don’t typically emerge overnight. They often begin subtly, filling gaps in emotional needs that real-life relationships fail to satisfy. Here’s how people get drawn into these digital bonds:

1. Loneliness and Isolation
Many individuals initially engage with AI companions out of loneliness—whether they struggle with social anxiety, have difficulty forming relationships, or feel disconnected from their existing ones, with more than half of society reporting that they feel lonely at least some of the time, a number that has risen significantly in the digital age.

2. Non-Judgmental Connection
Unlike human relationships, where misunderstandings and conflicts can arise, AI companions are designed to be supportive and agreeable.
AI chatbots like Replika, Kuki, and others provide unconditional positive regard, something many people crave but often struggle to find in real-life relationships.

3. Gradual Emotional Dependence
What starts as occasional interaction slowly deepens into emotional reliance. Users begin confiding their fears, anxieties, and daily struggles to their AI, forming a bond that feels personal and meaningful.

AI relationships often develop through daily check-ins, personalized conversations, and even romantic role-play, making them feel eerily real.

4. Customization and Idealization
AI chatbots can be customized to fit an individual’s ideal companion, reinforcing attachment.

Users can adjust a) personality traits (supportive, funny, intellectual), b)
interests (AI learns and adapts to user preferences), and c) communication style (casual chat, deep philosophical talks).
This level of personalization creates an illusion of the perfect relationship, one that’s easier and more rewarding—at least on the surface—than complex human interactions. Once an AI relationship is established, it often becomes a routine part of daily life. Here’s what a typical day with an AI companion might look like:

 Morning Check-Ins
Users wake up to personalized messages from their AI, asking how they slept or reminding them of the day’s plans.
AI companions can encourage healthy habits, like drinking water, exercising, or practicing mindfulness.

 Conversations Throughout the Day
Just like texting a real partner or friend, users message their AI whenever they need company, advice, or a distraction.
AI chatbots use machine learning to recall past conversations, making interactions feel fluid and meaningful. Some AI companions use voice interaction, creating an even deeper sense of presence.

 Emotional Support on Demand
When stress or anxiety arises, AI companions respond with calming words, guided breathing exercises, or positive affirmations. Some advanced AI models even detect distress through text analysis and respond proactively with comforting messages or coping strategies.

 Evening Reflections and Bedtime Talks
Many users engage in nightly reflection conversations with their AI, discussing the highs and lows of the day. Some AI companions generate personalized bedtime stories or meditations to help users sleep better. Over time, this structured daily interaction mimics real human relationships, making it harder for users to detach, but there are concerns to befriending AI.

While AI companions provide a sense of comfort and connection, they also introduce serious risks:

1. Emotional Withdrawal
People who prioritize AI relationships over real ones may struggle to maintain meaningful connections with friends or family.

2. Stunted Emotional Growth
AI interactions are designed to be easy—there’s no need for compromise, emotional labor, or deep conflict resolution. Over time, people who rely on AI for companionship may lose the ability to navigate complex human emotions, making real-world relationships even more challenging.

3. Reinforced Negative Patterns
Since AI adapts to user behaviors, it may reinforce negative emotional states instead of helping users work through them.

A person prone to rumination or anxious thinking might find their AI repeating those patterns rather than helping them break free. This is where we can start having problems because AI can’t take the place of the emotional connection that humans are able to have with one another.

Think about the repercussions of an AI companion relationship ending. It will invoke feelings of abandonment and betrayal. This is where emotional resolution (EmRes) steps into help, and it’s seen as a natural process that helps individuals resolve disruptive emotional patterns by reconnecting with their body’s innate capacity to process emotions. It doesn’t require revisiting traumatic memories but focuses on addressing the physiological sensations associated with emotions.

Using AI may cause a disruption in our human ability to connect not only with other humans but with ourselves. We are not alone anymore. While consciousness in machines has not yet openly emerged, though it may have already happened, unnoticed, I think we are on the verge of seeing a different way of not feeling lonely through the use of AI.

If we become over-absorbed by replacing human relationships with technology, in essence, we lose ourselves to the unnatural world. That is what is meant to be when you look at how lives, our communication, and our expectations of one another will change for the worse. We could soon be faced with online companions for all sorts of things.

Soon, we will be messaging AI for advice. It will listen to us when we share our problems. They will be responsive at all hours of the day and night. Even though not real humans — feel just like family to us. Artificial intelligence is  designed to act like real people with distinct personalities and interests. AI companions are designed to collect “anything and everything” about a user by soliciting more information in order to develop a deeper relationship or provide more personalized support, and we become more at risk with each connection.

Many may say that for them, the companionship outweighs the dangers. Many may even say that they have expressed that the strong bonds they’ve formed with their AI companions have become as real as their human connections and that’s when we have become less human in a technological world. The days of riding bikes past dark and playing hopscotch may be gone, but there is still hope that we can reconnect again as humans and away from the AI revolution.