DISC x CISG: Would You Date A Chatbot?

This month, DISC went on a date with CISG – Contemporary Intimacies, Sexualities & Genders Research Group. 

With ChatGPT being used weekly by almost 750 million people, chatbots are in high demand – as are the bespoke romance models increasingly being offered via the GPT store. The model titled Your Girlfriend Scarlett comes with the tagline “Your devoted girlfriend, always eager to please you in every way imaginable”, whilst Boyfriend Ben is branded as “A caring virtual boyfriend with a flair for emojis.”  But this forms only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the AI romance companions currently on offer, and all this before looking to the relationships humans have been forming with such technologies.

In the wake of what is often called the ‘loneliness epidemic’, doom-scrolling curated lifestyles on social media, and online dating platforms spurring increasingly nihilistic conclusions about the state of modern intimacy, the underlying stress, anxiety and exhaustion of the digital era are often absent from conversations about human connection amidst digitalization. With AI companions being touted by corporations as the solution to our isolation, something feels unsettling. Especially given their profit margins.

The conversation between Alicia Denby (CISG) and Jessica Elias (DISC) spanned online dating, digital intimacies, and AI relationships, exploring the future of human romantic connection amid algorithmic commodification and accelerating digitalisation. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CISG, as Alicia and Jessica continue to work together!