50.5% of Americans Say AI Romance Can Count as Cheating
ainews ·
A survey of 1,709 quality-screened U.S. adults found that 50.5% believe a partner’s romantic or sexual relationship with an AI can constitute cheating. Another 21.2% said they would avoid the term cheating but would still feel uncomfortable, bringing the share that would impose some boundary to 71.7%. Engaged and married respondents were nearly twice as likely as single respondents to have used an AI girlfriend or boyfriend app, at 30.7% versus 16.3%. People who were open to developing genuine feelings for an AI, as well as current and former users, were more likely to classify AI romance as cheating than people who rejected the possibility or had never used such services. Most respondents identified conversation and relief from loneliness as the main reason to use an AI companion, while only 10.3% selected affection, romance, or sex. The article argues that AI relationships blur existing distinctions between emotional infidelity, sexual behavior, friendship, and pornography because they involve interactive, personalized attachment without a human third party. With no established social standard, couples will largely have to define their own boundaries around AI intimacy.
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