- 26% of Gen Z say they have already had romantic or sexual interactions with AI
- Many people use AI for emotional support because it feels easier than talking to real people
- Most Gen Z respondents still see this trend as a sign of growing loneliness
The modern romance story is often a complex interplay of dating apps (possibly with AI help, friends of friends, and lucky chance encounters at a concert or bookstore.
That gauntlet is daunting enough that many people are turning to the ease of an AI chatbot that remembers your favorite music, always replies in seconds, and never seems emotionally unavailable unless the servers are down.
That may be why 26% of Gen Z adults say they have already had romantic or sexual interactions with AI, according to a survey from sexual health company ZipHealth. It’s not just them, 19% of all respondents in the U.S. and Canada said the same. More than half said talking to AI feels easier than talking to a real person.
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Nearly a quarter said they would consider physical intimacy with a lifelike humanoid robot. No wonder simple digital intimacy is attracting so many converts.
The obvious reaction is to treat the whole thing like a punchline. But the numbers describe a society that has become very comfortable outsourcing emotional interactions to software. It’s not a society drunk on robot lust, but it does show AI going beyond a mere novelty.
The emotional connection is the real draw for a lot of people. The survey found that 36% of Gen Z respondents had used AI for emotional support or companionship, and 37% of people currently in relationships have done the same.
The chatbot is not only flirting. In many cases, it is also listening and filling a space that used to belong to friends and partners.
That helps explain why AI intimacy is not as fringe as it sounds. A good chatbot is attentive in a way many people are not. It can be emotionally available at 1:14 a.m. in a way that a real person often cannot. That does not make it love, obviously. But it does make it effective.
Digital native love
Younger adults, who have spent most of their lives communicating through screens, may be especially primed for this. And with 83% of Gen Z respondents saying the trend points to a growing loneliness crisis, it’s not likely to fade soon.
It is notable how self-aware the generation most likely to use AI this way is, as they are also the ones most likely to see it as evidence that something is off in the world.
The survey also found that this territory is already colliding with ordinary relationship politics. Seven in ten respondents said developing romantic feelings for AI counts as cheating. Half of the people who said they had romantic or sexual AI interactions also said they had hidden it from a partner. Women were far more likely than men to say they would end a relationship over flirtatious AI conversations.
Before spiraling over the death of human intimacy, it’s worth noting that it’s only one survey and far from comprehensive. The numbers are suggestive, but not definitive. The real tension is over whether AI simulating responsiveness can become emotionally compelling enough that it is real enough to people that they don’t care about the fact that it is still only a simulation.
What this survey really captures is not a civilization falling in love with machines. It is a generation living in such close proximity to synthetic attention that affection, comfort, desire, and convenience have started bleeding into one another.
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ESchwartzwrites@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
