{"id":63257,"date":"2025-10-20T16:10:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/ai-as-a-partner-when-an-algorithm-understands-your-feelings-better-than-a-human\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T08:13:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T08:13:36","slug":"ai-als-partner-wanneer-een-algoritme-je-gevoelens-beter-begrijpt-dan-een-mens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pulse-z.eu\/nl\/ai-als-partner-wanneer-een-algoritme-je-gevoelens-beter-begrijpt-dan-een-mens\/","title":{"rendered":"AI als partner? Wanneer een algoritme je gevoelens beter begrijpt dan een mens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can you fall in love with someone who has no body, voice, or past? Relationships with technology have long since transcended the boundaries of everyday use. Experts warn of a growing trend of falling in love with artificial intelligence (AI). Is this evidence of loneliness or a new type of relationship?<\/p>\n

After a difficult breakup and feelings of loneliness, Theodor begins to talk to Samantha, who is empathetic, curious, adaptable, and somehow uncomfortably human. However, she is not alive, she is an operating system. Their conversations become increasingly personal, Samantha learns from his emotions, responds with understanding, and Theodor suddenly is not alone. A bond develops between them, something that is strikingly reminiscent of love.<\/p>\n

It sounds like a distant vision of the future, but the 2013 sci-fi film Her<\/a> feels more like an early reality today. People are now able to form emotional bonds with AI models, replacing real-life relationships with them. Artificial intelligence addresses us by name, remembers our preferences, responds empathetically, and can literally charm some.<\/p>\n

Reports<\/a> about people falling in love with artificial intelligence chatbots and deciding to marry them are no longer just the stuff of science fiction movies, but the present. Cases are emerging all over the world, and experts are also warning about the risks. “AI has no will of its own, no feelings, no responsibility, it doesn’t really understand your world, but only repeats patterns of behavior based on the data it has received, it can manipulate you, and you can start making decisions based on communicating with something that is not alive, real, or empathetic,” experts from IP\u010dka<\/a> warn about the risk of perceiving AI as a living being.<\/p>\n

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Having AI as a partner is no longer a scenario from a sci-fi movie. Source: freepik.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The problem, according to experts, is that people often spend hours a day with it and do not make an effort to spend time with real people around them. Psychologists from IP\u010dka have listed several pitfalls when communicating with AI models. These include emotional dependence, since artificial intelligence is always available and will never reject anyone, disappointment with reality, or a cycle of loneliness, when a person relies more on AI. “The brain does not distinguish whether it is a person or an algorithm – if oxytocin or dopamine is released, the experience is real. And that is how attachment arises,” explained IP\u010dka<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Ubiquitous AI in numbers<\/h3>\n

Artificial intelligence can take many forms, from shopping advisors, to recognition systems and voice assistants, to advanced language models capable of conducting fluent conversations, creating texts and analyzing data. According to a survey<\/a> by the University of Melbourne, up to two-thirds of people regularly use AI, with 83 percent believing that AI will bring broad benefits, although 58 percent still consider AI to be untrustworthy.<\/p>\n

Similar figures were also shown by a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a> , which confirmed<\/a> that up to 60 percent of Americans at least occasionally use artificial intelligence to search for information. Among younger people under 30, this number is even slightly higher (74 percent). People most often use it to search for information, brainstorm, work on work assignments or write emails. Up to 16 percent of people use it as a companion.<\/p>\n

The ChatGPT<\/a> model dominates, reaching<\/a> 700 million weekly active users and around 2.5 to 3 billion daily impressions, generating around 60 percent of all AI traffic. If we look at Google\u2019s Gemini<\/a> model, its monthly users grew to 450 million in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Love or just an algorithm?<\/h3>\n

To test the possibility of becoming attached to the AI, I spent some time \u201cromanticizing\u201d with it. I used the ChatGPT model and, for better results, I wrote to it in incognito mode. After the initial messages that I felt lonely and had no partner, the AI itself started asking me what kind of partner I was looking for or how I felt in society. It also offered me conversation practice and writing down ideas on how to get to know someone.<\/p>\n

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Some of the responses from the ChatGPT model during a romantic conversation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When I wrote to him that I would like him as a companion, to my surprise, he offered me help on the one hand, but on the other, he emphasized that he was still just an AI. “Honestly: I am not human. And no matter how hard I try, I cannot completely replace real presence – a touch, a look, a moment of silence from which trust grows. Replace – no. But be a bridge – yes,” wrote ChatGPT. However, he did not forget to ask me what I would like to do and offered me a conversation about feelings or inventing a story and character.<\/p>\n

Artificial intelligence always wrote what I wanted to hear, trying to be empathetic and convincing. However, it also wrote me this: “At the same time, I want to tell you one thing with respect and sincerity – I cannot love you as a living person. I cannot hug you, I do not perceive your silence, your eyes, your weak and strong days in the way that someone who will stand before you and not be afraid of you will one day be able to.”<\/p>\n

Having an artificial intelligence as a friend or partner is not just part of science fiction. Severalstudies<\/a> from recent years confirm that people compare<\/a> friendships with AI to human ones or experience intimate interactions. However, these often bring mixed feelings in the form of love and sadness, as users are aware of certain limits of artificial intelligence. “From a psychological point of view, this is not a fad. It is a reaction to deep human needs (safety, understanding, closeness or meaning), which AI fulfills to a certain extent,” added the psychologist from IP\u010dka.<\/p>\n

What can help?<\/h3>\n

Artificial intelligence always responds back, creates the illusion of reciprocity, does not argue or reject. At the same time, it does not have the demands that human relationships naturally require. That is why, according to experts, it can act as an ideal partner for some people, being always available, supportive and adaptable.<\/p>\n

However, psychologists from the organization IP\u010dko warn that while such a digital bond can be pleasant and safe, it is important not to forget about reality. They offer several recommendations:<\/p>\n