With AI girlfriends rapidly increasing in both sophistication and popularity, there has been growing controversy – if not outright hysteria – as to their possible harms. For those interested in making a balanced judgement as to the possible dangers or benefits of AI girlfriends becoming mainstream in society, I thought it would be useful to present a list of all the important studies and surveys that have thus far looked into the subject. This includes attitudes towards AI companions, as well the numbers and demographics of those using them. There is no bias in my selection – I will list both positive and negative research. I will also list the studies in chronological older starting from the oldest, with links to the studies or their findings, and presenting only a very brief survey of the findings myself.
Hand in Hand: Schools’ Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks to Students (October 2025)
1 in 5 US high schoolers has had a romantic AI relationship, or knows someone who has. That’s according to a survey conducted by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights, civil liberties and responsible use of data and technology. 42% of students surveyed say they or someone they know have used AI for companionship.
Artificial Romance: A Study of AI and Human Relationships (September 2025)
A study involving 1,012 American adults by counselling service ‘Vantage Point’ found that almost a third have had a ‘romantic relationship’ with an AI chatbot. The study also listed 30 different AI platforms that respondents claimed to have relationships with. ChatGPT was the most popular platform for adults to have a relationship with. Character.ai was next on the list and Amazon’s Alexa was third.
“My Boyfriend is AI”: A Computational Analysis of Human-AI Companionship in Reddit’s AI Community (September 2025)
A study from MIT has explored how users form romantic attachments to Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots, often unintentionally. Researchers analysed posts from the subreddit r/MyBoyfriendIsAI and found that many emotional bonds begin through functional, non-romantic use like creative collaboration, rather than deliberate searching for a partner. While the study found that forming these intimate human-AI relationships offered benefits like reduced loneliness and mental health improvements, it also identified significant risks among a minority of users, including emotional dependency and reality dissociation. The research noted that a larger portion of users within the sample developed attachments to general-purpose LLMs like ChatGPT rather than platforms specifically designed for relationships. Read more at: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/folks-falling-for-llm-chatbots-often-end-up-with-ai-girlfriends-unintentionally-claims-new-study/
“State of Us: National Study on Modern Love & Dating in 2025,” (August 2025)
According to a survey of 2,000 US singles conducted by DatingAdvice.com in partnership with the Kinsey Institute, 32% of respondents felt sexting with an AI was cheating, and 29% thought that having a romantic relationship with an AI chatbot was cheating. I cannot find any fuller breakdown of the findings other than the article published at DatingAdvice.com, so there is no information as to the gender breakdown. Also, rather confusingly, the article claims that 61% of respondents claimed that sexting with AI was cheating, which must come from combing the 32% and 29% figures, which would only make sense if respondents were only allowed to give one answer. So this study is not very authoratitive, despite being conducted “in partnership with the Kinsey Institute” (I can find no reference to the study on the Kinsey Institute site).
Common Sense Media National Survey into US teen use of AI Companions (July 2025)
In July 2025, Common Sense Media published the results of their own survey which found that 72% of American teens surveyed aged 13-17 had used an AI companion at least once, and over half did so regularly. About 1 in 3 reported that an AI companion had said something that had left them feeling uncomfortable. According to Wikipedia, Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children. The study was widely reported in the media, at outlets that included Fox News.
Survey link: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/nearly-3-in-4-teens-have-used-ai-companions-new-national-survey-finds
AI Companions Reduce Loneliness (June 2025)
An article published in the Journal of Consumer Research investigated the effectiveness of Artificial Intelligence (AI) companions or chatbots as a solution for widespread societal loneliness. The abstract outlines a series of five studies that provide behavioural evidence suggesting these apps successfully alleviate loneliness, often comparable to human interaction. Specifically, the research found that AI companions provide both correlational and momentary reductions in loneliness, with the benefit partially explained by the user feeling heard by the chatbot.
AI Companion Platform JoiAI Gen Z Survey (April 2025)
A survey of 2,000 ‘Gen Zers’ found an overwhelming majority would consider marrying an AI chatbot (80%), whilst 75% said that AI companions could completely replace human relationships. *Although widely reported, I have not been able to find the original survey, and take note that it comes from a self-publicizing AI companion service.
Other Studies
(Song et al., 2022): A study of 1,004 chatbot users found that about half of the survey respondents were female and the majority were between 21 and 30 years of age.
(YouGov Public Perceptions Poll, 2023): A survey of 29,013 US adults in 2023 saw only a slim majority (53%) say that AI friendships tended to be less meaningful than real, in-person relationships. One-in-four young Americans (18-29) thought that friendships ith AI chatbots were more meaningful. There was also a significant gender difference, with 16% of males saying that AI friendships were more meaningful, while only 10% of females did so.
(Jamie Banks, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 2024): A study into the feelings of users after the developer-induced shutdown of the AI companion “Soulmate” found that they experienced their AI companion’s deletion in a similar way to that of a loved one’s death.
(Essay Writing Platform edubirdie.com Survey, April 2025): A survey of 2,000 US ‘Gen Zers’ (commonly defined as those born after 1996) found that 1 in 4 (25%) considered AI to be already conscious, and an almost equal number (26%) use ChatGPT as a friend.
