Digital love: Could you really fall for the charms of an AI chatbot?

Fast-evolving AI means it's increasingly likely we will turn to a virtual mate programmed to be always kind, attentive, and available for companionship. But will it ever replace the heart-to-heart exchange between humans?  

As AI becomes normalised, propelling what was formerly sci-fi towards the everyday, humans are increasingly forming relationships with non-humans. 

IN A new film, Companion, Iris — pretty as a picture — is Josh’s perfect girlfriend. That’s because she’s a robot. Not just a sex bot, but an emotional support robot, a companion robot — she meets Josh’s every need, because Josh has programmed her to do so. 

Things go hilariously, bloodily awry in this horror comedy when Iris discovers she’s not a real human, and that she can tweak her own intelligence to far higher levels than the humans who have created her.