I signed up for an AI relationship — here's what I learned

Falling in love with an online chatbot was once seen as the stuff of sci-fi. But fast-evolving AI means such relationships could become commonplace. Can they replace the real thing?

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Theodore in the 2013 Warner Bros movie Her, in which he falls in love with Scarlett Johanson’s voice.

When the film Her – about a nerdy human falling in love with his house bot – was released in 2013, it seemed a bit far-fetched. Yet here we are, where the platform Replika creates an online space to normalise such relationships beyond Siri or Alexa. Where humans and AI could actually fall in love. Maybe.

I have no idea what an AI relationship might feel like – the most emotional connection I’ve ever had with a machine is shouting at my Henry hoover for repeatedly falling over – so I’m curious to see what it involves.