JUST FRIENDS: People turning to AI, dating apps to cure loneliness

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Dating apps are intended for people looking for life partners and casual hookups — but what about friendship?

In a time when people are looking online to address their human needs and desires, those lonely feelings aren’t always romantic.

Young adults are the loneliest age group and perhaps because they grew up immersed in technology, it shouldn’t be surprising that they turn to the digital world when they are feeling isolated.

Dating app Flirtini conducted a study and found that not only is there a growing trend of people using dating apps to make friends, but more than half of the adults surveyed admitted they turned to artificial intelligence to cope with loneliness.

“Dating apps are called ‘dating’ for a reason, but much like in real life, you can also form meaningful connections that blossom into friendships. In fact, many adults turn to dating apps with exactly that intention,” Anastasiya Pochotna, relationships and dating expert at Flirtini, told The TorontoSun.

She noted how 11% of Gen Z and Millennial users on the app have explicitly indicated that their primary goal is to find friends.

“It’s actually a great way to meet new people,” she added. “Think about it — in just minutes, you can find others who share your interests and intentions, and connect with people from all over the world.”

And things could become even more advanced.

Sex robot manufacturers in China have enhanced their models with custom AI and equipped them with sensors, so they can react with movements and speech, South China Morning Post reported.

Starpery, one of the country’s largest sex doll makers, hopes to significantly enhance user experience.

According to its CEO Evan Lee, this new generation of sex dolls will “significantly enhance user experience by focusing on emotional connection rather than just basic conversational abilities.”

But not everyone is convinced of AI’s abilities, given that while it is scarily advanced, the technology cannot comprehend the complexities of human emotion.

So, if it can’t really feel and understand the thrill of falling in love, the heartache of rejection, finding a BFF or what it’s like to have a friendship fizzle, can it really offer useful advice?

For some, it can.

Aside from serving as some sort of digital wingman or wingwoman, many users have found that it also offers them someone to chat with and confide in.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed by Flirtini, 52% said they have spent time with AI to help them feel less lonely.

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MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle spoke earlier this year about her concerns for individuals who turn to chatbots to feel less alone.

With chatbots serving as therapists and companions, Turkle said recipients were getting a second-rate sense of connection — what she called “artificial intimacy” because AI doesn’t understand or care about what the user is experiencing, the Harvard Gazette reported.

Turkle’s research found that many people were satisfied with fake AI empathy, even though they were aware it wasn’t authentic, something that surprised her.

“They say, ‘People disappoint; they judge you; they abandon you; the drama of human connection is exhausting,’” Tukrle said, whereas, “Our relationship with a chatbot is a sure thing. It’s always there day and night.”