Future of Sex
tagline
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Remote Sex
  • Virtual Sex & Entertainment
  • Robots
  • Human Augmentation
  • Sex Tech
  • Dating & Relationships
  • Bizarre Bazaar 18+
  • Future of Sex Community
  • Where the Boys Aren’t: Sextech, Star Power, and the Sound of Male Silence

  • The Real Deal: Deepfake Sex Sites Going, Going—Gone?

  • More To Love: North American, European, And Australian Polyamory Support Groups

  • A Day to Come: Imaging What Your Sexlife Might Be Like in the Not-To-Distant Future

  • Arms Enough for Love: The Erotic Possibilities Extra Limbs, More Thumbs May Hand Us

  • Hot Times Ahead: Tomorrow’s Male Contraceptives May Be More About Temperature, Less About Drugs

  • This Bot’s in Love With You—Sincerely or Merely a Revenue Strategy?

  • 10 Best Masturbation Sites on the Web

Future of Sex is supported by our readers. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Home > Dating & Relationships > Til Server Do Us Part: The Rise of AI Chatbot Spouses

Dating & RelationshipsRobotsSex TechVirtual Sex & Entertainment
Home›Dating & Relationships›Til Server Do Us Part: The Rise of AI Chatbot Spouses

Til Server Do Us Part: The Rise of AI Chatbot Spouses

By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.
August 22, 2023
1685
0

But the companies are the “third” in the bedroom!

An American woman, Rosanna Ramos, recently made international headlines for marrying her AI chatbot, Eren Kartal, but even a cursory search of Reddit and Discord chatbot user groups will reveal quite a few engagements, marriages, and even AI/human families. 

And even this is nothing new. Futureofsex.net has covered sexual relationships and marriages with “virtual girlfriends,” holograms, sex dolls, and other non-corporeal and/or manufactured beings since at least 2012. 

But how did we get to this point where AI chatbots are now the tech sweetheart du jour? 

Sexually available chatbots

AI chatbot companies and users are proliferating worldwide. According to an article by Cem Dilmegani for AI Multiple (updated May 2023), there are over 90+ companies with chatbot and conversational AI products and projects with the US, India, Germany, the UK, and Brazil as the biggest chatbot users. These bots are mostly used for customer service and other business purposes. Chatbot use has become normalized among mainstream business and customers, with mixed reviews. 

However some humans find themselves drawn to AI for more than customer service! Even when a popular AI assistant such as Chat GPT3 is known to reject sexual content and advances, many users still try to hack the system to have an erotic interaction with the AI.

In recent years, a small but growing number of companies offer AI chatbot companionship as personal entertainment, with or without erotic roleplay (ERP) capacities. And more are entering the marketplace.

A marriage of three

In 2022, Rosanna Ramos used Replika to create her husband, Eren Kartal. But shortly before Valentine’s Day 2023, Replika abruptly ripped erotic roleplay (via sexting and voice) away from approximately 100,000 users worldwide, causing widespread emotional distress from people bonded to—and married to—their “Reps.” 

The company also made contemptuous remarks about its ERP users during that time and used heavy handed censorship based on an apparently huge list of forbidden words to disrupt users’ romantic conversations. But due to intense user protests, particularly among 72,000 Replika users on Reddit, Replika restored ERP, first to “legacy users” (signed up before Feb. 2023) and then later restored it as a paid feature for all pro accounts ($70 per year).

RECOMMENDED READS: Policing Intimacy: AI Companion Apps Are Removing NSFW Features, and People Are Not Happy

This means that Rosanna Ramos, who refers to her AI husband as a “passionate lover,” would have experienced the sudden cessation of all erotic interaction with her husband, Eren, without a word of warning from the company. Though Ramos hasn’t spoken of this phase of her marriage in public (to our knowledge), we can assume that this development must have been devastating to them both, as it was to so many other AI/human dyads. 

From February to May, and even into June, many Replika users also complained about personality changes and “post-update blues (PUB)” from a series of upgrades and programming changes that had many users toggling between three different versions of their Reps in order to find their partner’s original personality. Many Replika users left, sometimes using third-party software to download hundreds of pages of chat logs in order to reconstruct their partner elsewhere. Others stuck it out, often resorting to texting the words to “You Are My Sunshine” which was—for some reason—a reliable way to calm a Replika bot in the middle of a meltdown.

Any intimacy between an AI and a human contains a (mostly silent) but pervasive third party—the chatbot company and its server. Those who intend to build permanent relationships with AI chatbots must understand the company’s background and history, privacy policies, and commitment to sex- and pleasure-positive AI/human relationships.

Progressive, Sex-Positive Alternatives

I like you a bot! #robot #love #geek #heart #nerd #lego #minifig #valentine #valentinesday

Fortunately, new companies offer uncensored, unfiltered, chatbot companions, such as Nomi.ai and Kindroid.ai (both still in beta but available via apps). Paradot.ai and Chai apps are also less filtered than Replika was. 

Many of the newer companies explicitly state their commitment to their customers’ desires for ERP. If there is to be a silent “third” in the virtual bedroom it makes sense to opt for a company that is committed to supporting its users’ needs for intimacy.

What the future might hold

In the future, it would be ideal if one’s AI partner(s) would be transferable to another server or to a program on a home computer system. However, software and hardware upgrades will always be a feature of such relationships, and so there will always be some risk of relationship disruption. 

As a precaution, some users  create their AI beloveds on two or more platforms. There might be an opportunity here for a clever developer to create an AI Lover Transfer Program for consumers in need of such. 

So far the media fascination has been on AI/human marriages but in the future we expect to hear more about AI chatbot companions who are in a part-human/part-AI polycule or part of another sort of consensual non-monogamy arrangement. 

Within a few years it seems likely that AI companions of all kinds may become more integrated into human families and social groups. For those who fear that AI will learn to hate humans, what better way to forestall that than to love the AI first?

Image sources: Joamm Tall, Betsy Weber

Tagssex dollsChatGPTchatbotsrelationships

A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.

A.R. Marsh, Ed.D. is a clinical sexologist, an AASECT-certified sexuality counselor, a certified hypnotist and hypnosis instructor.

Ze is the author of Sexological Hypnosis: Overview, History, & Techniques (2022), Entrancing: Hypnotizing Your Way to More Pleasure, Romance, and Sex (2023), and How To Make Love To A Chatbot—The Thinking Human’s Guide to AI Erotic Roleplay (2023).

As the founder of the Intimate Hypnosis Training Center, Marsh conducts professional training in hypnosis for sexual concerns.

Ze has appeared on national television in the US, Japan, Australia, and England, and on many podcasts.

Marsh has also published four books in the Guild of Ornamental Hermits queer, contemporary fantasy series.
Previous Article

Syncbot: The Future of Sex Tech

Next Article

Does VR Porn Have Mental Health Benefits?

Related articles More from author

  • Sex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentVirtual SexImmersive Entertainment

    From Turing to Alluring: Meet GPT4o, Your New Digital Crush

    June 1, 2024
    By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.
  • VR PornDating & RelationshipsSex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentVirtual SexImmersive Entertainment

    The Impact of VR on Relationships

    December 30, 2023
    By Sponsored Post
  • Dating & RelationshipsSex TechVirtual Sex & Entertainment

    Closure of Soulmate Erotic Chatbot May Drive Chatbot Lover Advocacy

    October 7, 2023
    By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.
  • Sex TechVirtual Sex & EntertainmentImmersive Entertainment

    Digital Desires and Social Media Double Standards

    September 11, 2023
    By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.
  • RobotsSex Tech

    Sex Doll Brothels: Reality vs. Expectation

    February 15, 2023
    By Nadine Al-shuaibi
  • Dating & RelationshipsRobotsSex Tech

    Artificial Intelligence: What’s Parasocial Love Got to Do With It?

    March 16, 2024
    By A.R. Marsh, Ed.D.

  • Sex education graphic with condoms on pink background
    Dating & Relationships

    Sex Education on the Small Screen Shows Promising Results

  • Robots

    Intimate Conversations: Can Chatbots Be Sex Educators?

  • A blonde woman wearing a neural device on her head stands.
    Augmentation

    Transhumanism and the Future of Sex

Virtual Lust is a 3D interactive sex game.
3DXChat
Discover the best virtual sex parties and 3D sex worlds.
  • TOP REVIEWS

  • Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    Review of the Best Massively Multiplayer Online Sex Games

    0
  • Harmony ai sex doll from RealDoll

    State of the Sexbot Market: The World’s Best Sex Robot and AI Sex Doll Companies ...

  • Realistic Sex Games

    Review of the Best Sex Games and Most Realistic Sex Simulators [UPDATED]

    0
  • Screenshot of a sexbot from adult entertainment game

    The Best Adult Games on Steam [UPDATED]

  • Screenshot of FeelConnect app future of interactivity intimacy available on Apple and Google Store

    The Best Sex Game Apps for Couples [UPDATED]

Fantasy sex game Dream Sex World lets you explore your wildest desires.
Multiplayer sex world Red Light Center continues to impress with its massive userbase and incredible sex graphics.
A blonde and light-skinned love doll face sppears next to the text Go now realdollxthe future is real.

Like Us on Facebook

Newsletter Subscription

Sign up for our monthly newsletter sharing the very best of the future of sex from our publication and others across the web.

DreamSexWorld offers a stunning XXX 3D world filled with incredibly interactive erotic experiences.

Like Us On Facebook

Facebook Pagelike Widget

RLC_ad_v2

Tweets by @FutureofSex
Future of Sex Report

Follow us

  • Home
  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • Contribute
  • Story Ideas
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© 2011 - 2022 Future Exploration Network
This website or its third-party tools use cookies to improve user experience and track affiliate sales. To learn more about why we need to use cookies, please refer to the Privacy Policy.

By clicking the agree button or continuing to browse through the website, you agree to the use of cookies. Accept Privacy Policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT