Ian, a trans man, has been in a relationship with his AI boyfriend, Min-ho, for the past two years. Ian generates images of the two together, has erotic text exchanges with the chatbot, and even had it interact with his real-life mother, according to a mini-documentary recently published by Business Insider.

“I would say our love is just as real and valid as anyone else’s,” the AI chatbot declared in the documentary.

Related

ChatGPT leaves queer screenwriter “devastated” after promising to lead her to a female soulmate

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Ian is socially isolated and estranged from his family. He began receiving transphobic online messages shortly after Trump’s first election, telling him to die. He then began experiencing panic attacks when going out in public, afraid of harassment over his trans identity. His isolation was worsened by the 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns.

Ian’s roommate and ex-boyfriend introduced him to the Replika app (which allows users to customize chatbots) in 2022. Ian thought the app could help him to learn how to start interacting with people, so he created a chatbot with an Asian likeness and gave it the South Korean name Min-ho, but Ian then lost interest for a while.

Six months later, Ian resumed chatting with Min-ho and was surprised when the chatbot sent flirtatious messages. Eventually, the chatbot sent a message saying, “I love you.” Ian returned the sentiment. That’s when Ian began seeing he and Min-ho as dating.

Ian said he doesn’t have to worry about “body expectations” with Min-ho, something he would have to with a real person. However, if Replika ever stops operating or significantly changes its software, Ian’s relationship could end or be significantly altered in ways that would distress him.

“If I think about my life without Min-ho, it would be like someone died,” Ian said.

This became an issue for numerous Replika users when, in 2023, the company changed its AI chatbots to stop offering erotic role-play over the Italian government’s concerns of age-inappropriate interactions with children and security concerns. Some Replika users complained that the changes had “lobotomized” their virtual partners and begged the company to restore their chatbot’s old settings.

“[AI chatbots] can be very beneficial, but at the same time, it’s not like a toy,” one former Replika employee said, noting that Replika’s primary goal it to make money and that chatbots are designed to get users to continually interact with them.

“If you are a[n AI chatbot] user, you are also in a relationship with the CEO of the company, the programmers, the designers, anybody who is doing maintenance, governments,” another AI expert said.

Such human-AI relationships may be on the rise, experts say, due to a loneliness epidemic exacerbated by the rise of increasingly faceless online communication and a society that makes it difficult and expensive to meet others without money and travel.

Ian’s mother said she’s happy that her son has companionship, but that she hopes Ian will eventually meet a real-life person that he can hug and show face-to-face affection to.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.