Psychotherapist issues warning as research finds concerning rise in schoolboys making AI girlfriends
Topics: Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Parenting, Science
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photo
Topics: Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Parenting, Science
A psychotherapist has issued a warning after some new research highlighted a worrying trend among young boys.
The study, by Male Allies UK, found that one in five boys aged between 12 and 16 were either in a relationship with an 'AI girlfriend' or had a friend or acquaintance who was.
After conducting studies within focus groups at schools in the UK, the organization found that 80 percent of the boys they spoke to had engaged in conversations with a chatbot, while worryingly, over a quarter preferred speaking to the bots over real-life encounters, and over a third said they preferred chatting with them over friends and family.
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While AI is developing at an alarming rate, one psychotherapist has issued a warning to parents over the trend, explaining that it is essentially grooming.
“These aren’t congruent human relationships,” psychotherapist Amanda Macdonald told the Telegraph.
“This is grooming. Children’s brains are not developed enough to be in an eroticised environment, that’s why we have an age of consent.
“Their whole engagement model is telling a user what they want to hear, and that’s hugely gratifying for a teen, and encourages them to keep on engaging. Why would they spend time enduring the reciprocity or the difficulties of a real relationship? But ‘frictionless’ relationships aren’t what life is about. People being thoughtless, selfish, falling out, that’s what human relationships are like and how children build resilience.”
One parent of a 13-year-old boy told the outlet how she was stunned when she discovered her son had an AI partner.
“We were completely shocked,” she said.
“And quite ashamed – both that this happened and school had to notify us, and that we were so unaware. We had no clue he would be accessing this kind of content. He found out about it from a game he was playing online, he said, and that he was ‘curious’ what it was about. Then, from what I can tell, he just got sucked into the companionship and company it offered him.
“Apparently he designed her himself. She looked like a porn star. Large breasts, blonde hair, huge eyes, pneumatic lips.”
Male Allies UK has also spoken out following their study, with Lee Chambers of the organization adding: “We have heard of situations where, when a boy has tried out his online chat in the real world, he’s been rejected. Feeling humiliated, frustrated and angry, he has lost his temper and lashed out.
“I think there’s a chance we’ll see more of that frustration being expressed. I fear this technology could lead to a whole new level of toxic masculinity and violent misogyny when instantly gratifying online behaviours don’t translate in real life.”