> Many Reddit posts argue that AI relationships are more satisfying than real-life ones — the virtual partners are always available and problem-free. “Gaming changed everything,” said Sherry Turkle, a sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who has spent decades studying human interactions with technology. In an interview with The Telegraph, Turkle said, “People may let you down, but here’s something that won’t. It’s a voice that always comforts and assures us that we’re being heard.”

And this is the root of the problem that goes beyond just the AI dating to the whole society. Relationships are hard, they require hard work, they require forgiveness and compromise, they requiring saying your sorry when you have an emotional outburst, they require helping someone who is throwing up in the bathroom at 2 in the morning. In fact relationships are one of the hardest things most anyone will do in their life, they don't come easy, relationships with parents, relationships with spouses, especially relationship with kids.

But that's the point to quote Dr. Bob Kelso "Nothing worth doing in this life comes easy." People want AI relationships because they sound easier on the surface than real relationships, I can't count the number of times I've seen people describe relatively normal human behavior, and then start diagnosing the other person with a plethora of mental illnesses as an excuse why they should be allowed to disengage from a relationship guilt free.

Those that turn to these AI relationships, no matter how easy and attractive they are, will find at the end that they never really make real human connection, that they are empty and unsatisifying and the worst part is they feed into this overwhelming narrative we've adopted in society that what is easy and fun is what will make you happy and is right.

And no before the responses come, you cannot love a chatbot no matter how clever. I'll tell you what love is, it is getting up at 4:00am to deal with a sick young child that just threwup all over the bed and cleaning it up because you know that your wife hates dealing with vomit. Love is sleeping in your car at work because the girl you were dating lives 2 hours away from home but only 45 minutes from work and you'd rather be with her than leave at a decent time in the morning. Love is the feeling you have when you're on an important zoom call and your little boy comes running in yelling "DADDY I POOPED IN THE POTTY!". Love is when your little girl grabs your hand before crossing the street because cars are scary, and she wants to feel safe, and then as soon as you get on the sidewalk let's go and starts running down the street because there is an interesting rock. Love is when you've had a miserable day at work, and the house is a mess, and your kids run up to you and give you a big hug and ask if you can play with them and you say yes and they all go "YAY" because you are the best person to play with in the world.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as [love] should not be highly rated." - modified from Thomas Paine common sense.