It’s really hard to find a modern AI derivative that’s as controversial as AI girlfriends. On the one hand, there are so many concerns that AI is completely destroying the need for creative and white-collar jobs. At the same time, AI girlfriends are seen as far more sinister, and some critics fear that it could destroy the very fabric of future interpersonal relationships.

Still, saying that AI girlfriends are always a net negative is both incredibly uncharitable and in bad faith. With that in mind, here’s how an AI girlfriend can actually enhance one’s social life.

1. Practicing social interactions

One of the main reasons why so many people have trouble connecting with others is the lack of practice. You see, more and more people have social anxiety, which means that they’re afraid to speak to people they’ve just met or people in general (if groups are large enough).

This is a problem made worse by the existence of the internet, seeing as how they now have the option to interact with others online. Here, they have the cover of anonymity to give any kind of opinion they want, knowing that no one knows who they are.

It gets even worse; they can cherrypick who they interact with. You can find an online community of like-minded individuals and never have their ideas challenged. This ushers a sort of intellectual laziness where you’re never accustomed to having to defend your ideas or engage in a constructive conversation.

Will your AI girlfriend confront you and be argumentative? No, not by default, but you can make it so. For instance, you could program it to engage with you in a playful banter and even insist that it creates obstacles you’ll have to overcome. You can also insist that it tells you when you’re being too rude, too insensitive, or too direct.

In a way, you can turn it into a perfect practice tool for real interactions or real flirting. 

Sure, it’s never the same as the real thing, but as far as the simulations go, it can be pretty decent. 

2. A lot of relationships in 2024 are digital anyhow

Let’s do an experiment!

Grab your phone and enter the app you use for social chats the most. It could be your Instagram, Viber, WhatsApp, etc. Go through your five last chats and try to answer a few questions:

• How often do I chat with this person?

• How close do I consider them to be?

• When was the last time I saw them in person?

Chances are that you’ll be surprised by this simple breakdown. You see, there are a lot of people that you consider really close. Even people you can’t go a day without chatting to. Anytime something interesting, important, or just amusing happens, you immediately grab your phone in order to send them a message… but you never see them in person…

Do you get where we’re going with this one?

Imagine if a really, really, really good AI algorithm took over their account. How long would it take you to figure it out? Now, just imagine that this rogue AI had all your previous conversations to draw conclusions and create a persona from (a perfect prompt). 

In other words, the majority of people give too much credit to the idea that these AI personalities don’t exist in physical form. Well, guess what? In the form that they’re often exercised in, neither do your conventional relationship. An AI relationship can, therefore, be just as fulfilling.

Don’t get us wrong, there are so many things you can hold against this virtual relationship, but the fact that they’re digital is not a valid criticism in 2024.

With the right tool, like TwinTone, most of the time, you won’t even be able to tell the difference. 

3. More than sex

Relationships are about much more than just sex. This much should be clear to everyone, but it’s a point that so many people just seem to ignore. Everyone who suggests that a solution to the problem of people in involuntary celibacy is to just go to a prostitute (where it’s legal) completely misses what this is all about.

You see, people who can’t find a partner don’t just miss physical contact. Of course, physical touch reduces cortisol and increases levels of oxytocin, but there’s something more important. Attention and emotional desire are far more significant for one’s mental well-being.

People who can’t get a partner don’t want someone to be with them because they paid them to or even because they feel sorry for them. They want someone to feel the urge to be with them. They want to feel wanted and desired. This is an itch that an AI romance can definitely scratch. 

Even when it comes to the dreaded sexting and nudes, it’s not just about an image. You can just go on any porn site and see explicit images of countless perfect tens. A photo in a customized sexting session is a photo that’s taken (or, in this case, generated) just for you. It’s a piece of content that has an intended audience of one.

Is there a threat of falling in love with AI? Well, as long as you don’t lose sight of the fact that this is not a real live person, the threat should be minimal. 

4. Feeling less social pressure

For a lot of people, it’s all about social pressure. They hear the question “When are you going to find a girlfriend?” all the time, and they start feeling pressure. Sure, people who are inconsiderate enough actually to ask that question are never going to be satisfied with an answer that you have an AI girlfriend, but there is one issue that will be resolved.

You see, this question creates a sense of duty or responsibility to find a girlfriend. So, every time you go out, you start looking around in hopes that your gaze will lock with someone else and that this will be your last night as a single. It doesn’t work this way.

It actually makes you significantly more desperate, which even lowers your chances of finding a partner.  

What you need in order to advance in this marketplace of love is actually to learn how to speak to women without any romantic interest. Just go out there and, if you meet someone, try just chatting them up. Don’t be afraid of friendzone; she must have other friends so she can introduce you as a great guy (if you show yourself in this light).

All of this is much easier to pull off when you have a girlfriend application that you can resort to in your moment of need. This way, you can get your weekly dosage of sexts and NSFW pics and actually focus on forming friendships with real women in your life.  

An AI girlfriend is always an improvement over no girlfriend

Keep in mind that an AI girlfriend has the potential to make a huge improvement in your social life. You just have to understand the difference between an AI girlfriend and real-life interaction. An AI girlfriend is something different. It’s not there as a replacement; it’s a placeholder that should help you temporarily fix an issue. Think of it as an emotional flex-tape. It’s not as it once was; it’s not the best look, but it’s still holding things together.