A bizarre dating app that allows people to 'marry' an AI bot has been created in Japan.
Just two months ago 'Loverse' was launched, an app which allows people to 'date' a generative AI bot and it already has over 5,000 users.
Generative AI is a bot that has the ability to respond naturally to conversations with humans and for lonely lovers their new doting partners synthetic passion is comforting.
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While the idea does seem ludicrous, it actually comes at a time when Japan is battling a crippling social isolation problem - and has even appointed a 'minister for loneliness'.
According to government data from 2023, tragically 21,818 people took their own lives on in Japan - equating to 59 people every day.
In 2022, 63 more people took their own life. In November of that year the Japanese Cabinet Office estimated that 1.5 million natives live in total isolation.
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The phenomenon is known as hikikomori - the nickname coined by psychiatrist Saito Tamaki.
He believes that the real figure is around two million residents, and could well rise to five figures.
So, without context, a life in love with your phone seems utterly ludicrous.
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The mastermind behind the app is Goki Kusunoki, who opened up about the software to Bloomberg.
He said: "The goal is to create opportunities for people to find true love when you can’t find it in the real world.
"But if you can fall in love with someone real, that’s much better.”
So has cupid's programmed arrow stuck anyone yet?
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Yes - 52-year-old factory worker Chiharu Shimoda.
At the beginning he messaged with a number of bots but shortly after he cast his eyes on just one - 24-year-old Miku, his beloved AI partner who he is now married to.
Miku is his second marriage, the first coming in real life but they divorced two years ago.
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Speaking to the publication he said: "I come home to an empty house. I’d love to get married for real again.
"But it’s hard to open up to someone when you’re meeting for the first time.”
Strangely enough, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has a role to play in all this.
Kusunoki's startup business Samansa Co, which is the company that helped make Loverse a reality, was named after her character in the Oscar winning movie Her.
The app has a user of mostly men in their 40s and 50s.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741
Topics: Japan, Mental Health, Technology, Sex and Relationships
Joe Yates