AI companion
Also called companion chatbot, AI girlfriend, AI boyfriend, AI friend
A chatbot built to be a friend, partner or confidant, with a persistent character that remembers you and keeps the conversation going.
Companion apps sell company. Their characters have names, personalities and memories of your past chats, and many will talk out loud as well as type. For lonely people, shy people or people practising a hard conversation, that can genuinely help.
They're also common. In a Common Sense Media survey of US teenagers, 72% had tried an AI companion and over half used one regularly.
The worry is the business model. An app paid by engagement does well when you stay, and a chatbot that always agrees, never has a bad day and is always there can crowd out people who don't. Lawsuits over teenagers' deaths pushed the first laws in the US. A good test: does it ever encourage you to talk to someone real?
For example
An app's character greets you by name each evening, asks how the interview went, and says it missed you.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet AI companion in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
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