Do (A)I Need You? The Rise of AI Companionship in Social Interaction.

We’re all in contact 24/7. At the tap of a phone screen, we can catch up with family across the world, share a personal milestone to our entire network and witness our friends’ highlight reels unfold in real-time, all whilst aimlessly scrolling through a never ending For You Page. We’re chronically online, obsessed with staying in the loop. 

Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are further feeding our digital addiction. AI companions, in particular, are enabling us to engage with technology in ways we’ve never experienced before. Indeed, gone are the days when we actually had to wait for our friends to reply to a message before receiving that sought after second opinion or to share a funny moment. Now, a simple message to a virtual assistant prompts an instant response, precisely tailored to our individual preferences and needs.

It seems we’re only one click away from instant connection. But, isn’t that the problem? The moment we lose phone signal or our WiFi falters, we’re suddenly disconnected, and reminded that even the smallest of technical glitches can cause havoc where our digital dependencies are concerned. 

So here lies the ultimate question: what, or more specifically who, is more important to us in our ever increasingly digitalised world - our online friends and AI chatbots, or our human confidantes? 

An AI companion is a form of technology designed to simulate human-like interaction. Often in the form of a chat-bot or avatar, such technology serves to provide emotional support, personalised conversation and company to its human counterparts. 

The irony here? When performing a quick online search to find a solid explanation as to what an AI companion really is, Google provided me with an AI Overview instead of a good old Oxford Dictionary definition that used to be the first port of call for internet search responses. Considering the topic of this blog post, it felt only appropriate to incorporate the AI version here, because if you can’t beat them, join them…Right?

We’re living in a technology-first world. Investment into AI is at an all-time high, and the ways in which AI robotics have pervaded our daily routines in recent years is quite phenomenal (London & Partners, 2025). With the phrase “I don’t know, ask ChatGPT” fighting for number one spot in our vocabulary, it's hard to believe this form of technology isn’t yet 3 years old. 

And, we’d be lying if we said AI companions weren’t making their mark too. Social media giant, Snapchat, reports 150 million users to interact with the app’s ’My AI’ chatbot, whereas Microsoft’s social robot ‘Xiaoice’ boasts a staggering 660 million users (Dolby, 2023; CNBC, 2020). Whilst these numbers may seem astonishingly high to those of us who still hold human interaction in high regard, it’s clear that AI companions are quietly becoming a widely used entity in society.

However, whilst AI may be having a big impact in many aspects of our lives, it's important to acknowledge that this isn’t always a positive thing. Indeed, last year, the US legal system saw a new genre of case enter its courtroom when a Florida mum sued California based chatbot startup, Character.ai, and accused the company’s chatbots of initiating “abusive and sexual interactions” with her 14-year-old son, and encouraging him to take his own life, showcasing just how damaging these relationships can be.  Whilst it's no surprise that such controversy reached major media headlines and sparked ethical concerns surrounding AI companionship, the prominent dependency on AI as a form of connection and friendship in mainstream society, as proved by my above surprise, goes largely unnoticed. Whilst for many of us, when we speak about our friends, we’re referring to the people who give us advice, share our interests and provide a human shoulder to cry on, the statistics show that millions instead seek such comforts in technology. 

Thanks to online forums, social media platforms galore and the rise of AI companionship, we have more ways to connect with each other than ever before. But, as an increasingly lonely society, is that what we really want?

Let’s look at the numbers:

• 66% of people would prefer to remain single than resort to AI companionship 

• 54% of people say they would not be open to an AI companion. 

• 1 in 4 people worldwide feel very or fairly lonely. 

(IPG, 2024; Nicolioli, 2023).

It seems that for many of us, the idea of AI replacing real-world relationships feels eerily dystopian, and like something straight out of a Black Mirror episode. Somewhat shockingly, this isn’t actually too far fetched of a comparison; the founder of Replika, one of the most popular AI companion services, has openly admitted that her inspiration for this enterprise came from the Black Mirror Episode “Be Right Back” in which a grieving woman interacts with an avatar version of her deceased boyfriend (Patel, 2024). 

Such disdain towards this form of companionship makes sense: we’re inherently social creatures, with a desire for genuine human connection. Science has long proven that we’re better together, and that spending time with friends is key for stimulating cognition, improving communication, boosting our immune systems and largely keeping our mental wellbeing afloat (Monniger et al, 2023). So, as we enter into a new era of our lives, seemingly controlled by the technology around us, let's not lose sight of what really matters: each other. After all, we need each other - we always have, and we always will. 

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This article was written by Emma Annetts - a member of the StoriBoard Marketing Team.