Richard Hogan: AI 'girlfriends' make me fear for future of humanity

What happens to the boy who falls in love with his AI girlfriend? And what about girls, dating boys who have had a long-term relationship with one?

'If feeding our children pornography wasn’t bad enough, now they are sending them AI girlfriends that they can create to their specific desires.'

I was on my phone last week, looking at a video of The Beatles, when an ad for an AI girlfriend popped up telling me she has no limits. Her porcelain skin, voluptuous body, and brilliantly white teeth, smiling, and she will do anything I desire.

I felt like I had fallen into the future. To say I was staring incredulously at my screen would be an understatement.

My first thought was; imagine being a teenage boy, lonely and socially a little awkward, and coming across an ad like that. All of a sudden you can build the girlfriend of your dreams and they will interact and chat with you and, according to the lifeless eyes of the voluptuous girl winking at me, allow you to do whatever you want to her, no questions asked.

No awkward dating required, no cinema to navigate, no rejection to experience, no ridicule when it ends, no bitter feelings, just a girlfriend for you to enjoy.

Is this where we are heading to; the end of social connection? Is that what we call progress?

A recent study by Bangor University found that a third of the 1,009 13- to 18-year-olds surveyed said that the conversation they had with their AI companion was more satisfying than any real-life friend. This is supported by research from Internet Matters, which worryingly found that 64% of teens are using AI chatbots for help with everything from homework to emotional advice and companionship.

We are rapidly moving toward dystopia.

In 1996, at the Roslin Institute, they cloned the first sheep, Dolly. This was the first cloning of a mammal. Led by scientist Ian Wilmut, Dolly was created using somatic cell nuclear transfer with a mammary gland cell. The world understood the gravity of this event, and what potentially could unfold if left unchecked.

And so we brought in laws to prevent us from allowing that nightmare to become a reality. It is why Nobel prize-winning authors like Kazuo Ishiguro wrote novels like Never Let Me Go, trying to educate us all about the catastrophe that would befall the human race should we ever start to clone people.

But we are now in the age of AI. I don’t think we understand what is about to be unleashed on the world; what rough beast we have created that could devour us all.

When someone like Elon Musk warns us that AI is an existential threat to humanity and that it could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons, I think we should probably listen.

I have never been clearer in my mind about the recommender systems they have created on social media platforms, and how they are out of control now. I think it’s one of the biggest scandals waiting to break. They can’t control it. They won’t admit that, but it’s a Frankenstein’s monster.

And our government is watching, not knowing what to do. And now we have AI girlfriends entering the arena.

If feeding our children pornography wasn’t bad enough, now they are sending them AI girlfriends that they can create to their specific desires. 

We are witnessing, in real time, the destruction of future generations, and we are asleep at the wheel.

We are like those scientists out in the Nevada desert, mesmerised by the bright light of the mushroom cloud, not fully understanding they are already dead.

When we become sexually aroused dopamine fires, that is an evolutionary component in us designed to programme memory, because it ensures our survival as a species. When you become sexually aroused again, you know where to go to get that satiated. And on and on the species goes.

The same thing happens when you open the fridge, dopamine will fire to tell you; that is where you go to get food.

But now, think about this, you have an AI girlfriend who meets all your needs, she never tells you to put out the bins or to take responsibility for your actions or behaviours, she does not experience bad moods, and she has no limits sexually speaking.

We are blindly walking our way into catastrophe.

What happens to the boy who falls in love with his AI girlfriend, do you think he is out meeting friends and playing sports? Does he have high levels of resilience, or is he more frightened of the world out there than his friends who are in real relationships and meeting real people? I think we all know the answer.

And what about girls, how do you think they are going to experience relationships, dating a boy who has had a long-term relationship with an AI girlfriend? What do you think that would be like for her?

The scientific and political world reacted immediately to the creation of Dolly. Because they knew what it meant for humanity. Why are we so slow to react to this? Money?

We need the same swift reaction from our politicians to protect our children from AI relationships. They must not be allowed target our children with girls promising limitless sexual encounters. How is that not against the law?

Every day, children’s rights are denied online, and it must stop. If we don’t, it will mean the end of us.