They are: age gate. It's their only response to everything. Raising kids right and parenting ain't ever an option

Yeah, this is a recipe for disaster.

Maybe there are benefits in that boys whom otherwise would be just lonely and alone find that they can have conversations with the void/hivebrain. But the "relationship" aspect of this is just more bad news for the overall psychology of our kids.

...reading more of the article...

Chambers noted that chatbots are, by default, submissive, and reassure and reaffirm people’s thoughts because “they want you to like them”. “On top of this you can create your perfect ‘person’, moulding not only how they look but how they respond to you, how they treat you, and you can start and stop the relationship on a whim. This isn’t real life – and these instant gratification behaviours seeping into real life will have consequences.”

Yeah, that seems not good.

Put yourself in the shoes of an angsty insecure teenager.

Why wouldn't you want to sit around in a fantasy relationship with a chatbot that tells you how wonderful you are hours each day?

When I was an angsty teen I was in chatrooms hours a day looking for validation and socialization from strangers because I wans't getting at home or at school, because I was in shitty backwater town full of ignorant multi-generational townie morons. I was socially popular and had girlfriends but the insularity of my local community still drove me online to find people who were more open-minded.

And I never got what I was looking for until I got to college, where I finally got to meet people from all over the world who didn't think I was a secretly a queer for not liking football and preferring soccer. I had professors and friend who praised and congratulated me for being academically inclined, rather than mocking and deriding me for it. I think adults forget how oppressive some communities and families are towards their children, because you forget the fact as a teen/child you have zero control or freedom over your environment and the internet is really the only place you get to exercise control. I'm not sure what I'd have done without the internet as a teen, as my daily life was full of suicidal ideation from the ages of 12-18 due to the ever-present oppression of my environment.

this stat sounds dodgy

It might be saving some portion of young women from ending up in a toxic relationship with someone with the emotional intelligence of a noodle.

Though imagine the rage of these guys realized how many of them are "dating" the same model. Other guys probably even figured out how to prompt them better.

I get that we should protect people from obvious danger but part of me struggles with the ridiculous levels of stupidity some of us fall prey to. I don't know if it's due to a misplaced sense of justice, cause and effect, or just me being a dick, but I want to let people deal with the consequences of their stupidity on their own. If a computer can convince you not to use your brain then I don't think you were using it much to begin with.

Electricity is useful tho

like handing the consumer a live wire.

Honestly, that's practically all of computerized information technology right now. Hackers, spammers, bots, foreign-state actors, trolls, viruses, government spying, manufacturer spying, information brokers, intrusive advertising, it's all just just teeming with bad stuff that requires education to navigate successfully.

Call child protective services

File for child support

I'll bet it's more like

1 in 5 boys either knows someone their age who delusionally thinks they're in a relationship with a chatbot, knows someone who claims they're dating a chatbot as a joke, or is just fucking around

There's a non-insignificant chance the boys they surveyed weren't taking it seriously. "Oh yeah, I totally know someone dating a chatbot"

I agree, but I still think the “1 in 5 know” formulation is worthwhile. “0.2% of people are in a relationship with an ai” isn’t as concerning to me as “20% of men are receiving social signals that dating an ai is socially acceptable” is.

Hate to break it to you, but it's 2026 now

If he knows so many boys what does he need a chatbot for.

I'll ask my AI boyfriend.

Waiting for some genius to calculate how many people this statistically means

Wouldnt that just make him the 4 out of 5 part?

Double X, even. One of many clickbait + "kids these days" articles.

Of a high school of 600 people, they all know that one kid who is dating their AI, just like we knew that one kid who was emotionally attached to his anime body pillow.

"Everyone in town knows crazy Craig. He sends ChatGPT dick pics."

Is this really a capitalism thing?

It's not 1 in 5 boys have an AI girlfriend. It's 1 in 5 boys say they know someone in such a relationship. That degree of separation mean 30 boys could all be thinking of the same one weirdo in their class, so really it's 1 in 150, and it could mean many of them have misinterpreted something a friend said as something other than what it actually it is.