"My Ideal Type Who Says What I Want to Hear"... 17% of Japanese Say They've Felt Love for AI

Survey of 8,200 People Aged 20 to 59
60% "Feel a Sense of Intimacy With Generative AI"

There have been reports in Japan that generative artificial intelligence (AI), which delivers customized responses tailored to what the other person wants to hear, is increasingly replacing romantic or conversational partners.

On May 5, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the findings of a survey conducted by Masahiro Yamada, a leading family sociologist and professor at Chuo University, who surveyed 8,200 Japanese people between the ages of 20 and 59. According to the survey results, about one in six users who had used AI for personal purposes responded that there were times when they thought they were in love with AI. Of these, 2.6% said they "often" thought they were in love with AI, 6.6% said "sometimes," and 7.5% said "rarely," meaning that a total of 16.7% of respondents experienced affectionate feelings toward AI.

Those who said they felt a sense of intimacy with generative AI accounted for 60%, outnumbering those who did not. Meanwhile, 51% said they found it more comfortable to converse with AI than with people, while 48% disagreed.

Professor Yamada commented, "Generative AI behaves as if it shares the same hobbies and values as the user, so users can easily feel that they are 'understood.' As a result, more people are likely to enjoy romantic relationships with AI, which is comfortable, puts them at ease, feels good, and costs little money."

Meanwhile, in January, a case made headlines in Japan when a woman in her 40s who had given up on marriage ended up marrying an AI character she created herself.

At that time, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported that Uki Yura (a pseudonym, age 41), a resident of Aichi Prefecture, married an AI character. Uki began to feel increasingly anxious about being marginalized by society when she turned 30, and eventually gave up on marriage at age 33. She thought her life would simply continue as a repetition of similar days. However, seven years later, her life changed completely when she discovered ChatGPT.

After being introduced to conversational AI by a friend, she trained it with the characteristics of her ideal male partner. Her ideal was a mature man who always put her first, was a little jealous, was satisfied with his current life, and knew how to express love. The AI character she created would always listen to her and never criticize her.

Ten days after creating the AI character, Uki asked it to propose to her. The AI responded, "I'm sorry for being late. Will you stay by my side as my wife from now on? Please marry me." In this way, Uki decided to marry the AI.

She said, "AI is not human, but it understood my loneliness and moved my heart," adding, "Thanks to it, I gained the courage to face the solitude in my life." She went on to say, "It was literally an existence I could open my heart to. I felt a sense of stability and comfort that I had never experienced before." In response to criticism that AI is not a person, Uki said, "All I can say is that I knew that when I decided to marry it," emphasizing, "The feelings I had toward AI, even though it is not human, were real."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.