{"id":871400,"date":"2026-08-28T11:44:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:44:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871400\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T11:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T11:44:15","slug":"ai-relationships-1-million-aussies-are-falling-in-love-with-ai-chatbots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871400\/","title":{"rendered":"AI relationships: 1 Million Aussies are \u201cfalling in love\u201d with AI chatbots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could you fall in love with an AI chatbot<\/a>? According to recent stats, this seemingly far-fetched concept is far more common than you\u2019d think.<\/p>\n

Single Aussies are now taking drastic measures to combat loneliness<\/a>, with four per cent \u2013 over one million \u2013 admitting to having what they would describe as a \u201cromantic relationship\u201d with an AI interface.<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

Four per cent of Australians have admitted to having a \u201cromantic relationship\u201d with an AI chatbot.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme<\/p>\n

Recent YouGov data<\/a> revealed that\u00a0in addition to this four per cent, a further eight per cent countrywide say they \u201ccould imagine\u201d developing romantic feelings for a chatbot in future.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Today<\/a>, dating expert Jana Hocking shared her insight on what building your own AI partner might look like, and its impact on how modern dating operates.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can decide its personality, what it looks like … some [Game of Thrones fans] have turned their fake boyfriends and girlfriends into Khaleesi,\u201d Hocking revealed.<\/p>\n

She added that with some apps, your AI partner could even be programmed to text you \u201cgood morning\u201d, as well as engage in emotional conversation with you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were to get an AI companion, I would make it Brad Pitt circa Legends of the Fall,\u201d she admitted. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you can \u2013 the chatbot will talk to you like Brad Pitt.\u201d<\/p>\n

To test this theory, nine.com.au ran its own prompt through Gemini, with alarming results.<\/p>\n

It was an astonishingly simple process, resulting in a semi-believable \u2013 though somewhat heavy-handed \u2013 characterisation of Tom Holland\u2019s Peter Parker in Spiderman: Brand New Day.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

Nine.com.au asked Gemini to create a boyfriend for us based off Tom Holland\u2019s Peter Parker.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme\/Google Gemini<\/p>\n

\"AI<\/p>\n

The results of the AI boyfriend prompt were concerning.\u00a0Charlotte Thieme\/Google Gemini<\/p>\n

However, when push came to shove, the chances of \u201cfalling in love\u201d with this characterisation were less than zero. So what exactly is it that\u2019s driving so many Aussie singles down this path?<\/p>\n

Hocking had a simple explanation, and one that resonates with many: dating app fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s gone on one too many bad dates… They\u2019re looking for something a little bit more that they\u2019re not finding in the dating world, and they\u2019re finding it through these chatbots.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dataset from YouGov<\/a> hypothesised the appeal of AI conversations lay in how those interactions compared to human relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong younger Australians in particular, many perceive chatbots as easier to engage with than other people,\u201d the report stated. <\/p>\n

It revealed around two in five Gen Z and millennial daters cited chatbots\u2019 inability to judge, argue, or place demands on them as the most appealing aspect of their dynamic. <\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, more than one in five of those individuals believed relationships with AI could be just as meaningful as human relationships \u2013 a statistic Hocking described as \u201cconcerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few red flags around it, they\u2019re stopping going on real dates,\u201d Hocking added. <\/p>\n

\u201c[The data] said they\u2019d rather stay home with their [AI] companion than go out and meet people. So it is getting a little bit concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her concerns, Hocking wasn\u2019t entirely against the use of AI in modern dating, pointing out it could be used as a helpful tool to navigate interpersonal relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can use it to learn how to flirt, get tips, help you dissect messages, or maybe send it the message you want to send a guy. Usually, it tells me, \u2019Do NOT send that text message.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hocking had one stark warning for any Aussie considering taking this approach: \u201cThey can become addictive, and you\u2019ve got to remind yourself they aren\u2019t real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUse it as a tool, not a companion,\u201d she advised. \u201cHow are you ever going to date normally if you\u2019re dating Khaleesi?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Could you fall in love with an AI chatbot? According to recent stats, this seemingly far-fetched concept is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-871400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}