On-Demand Intimacy: Human-AI Relationships and the Platform Economics of Digital Companions

• In Event: 20220 - Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Section on Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology Roundtable I: Artificial Intelligence I

Abstract

Rapid advancements in large language models, multimodal processing, and hardware capabilities have given rise to increasingly sophisticated and high-fidelity artificial companions. As a burgeoning industry, artificial intelligence (AI) companion platforms exploit shifting societal attitudes towards tech-mediated relationships to usher in novel ways of forming meaningful connections with non-human entities. But how are these platforms constituted, and how do they “sell” consumers the idea of human-AI relationships? By analyzing the technical foundations, positioning, and design of four prominent multimodal (i.e., text, speech, and embodied) AI companionship platforms (AvatarOne, Digi, Paradot, and Replika), we argue that despite differences in architecture and style, emerging platforms converge on the following sociotechnical qualities: human-likeness, accessibility, customizability, and relationship progression. By creating technical affordances to augment these qualities, AI companionship platforms project what we call a future of on-demand intimacy, where intimacy can be acquired in a truly frictionless manner. Beyond deepening theoretical and empirical perspectives on how commercial entities deploy emerging technologies to motivate ethically controversial new markets, this article also advances our understanding of how norms around intimacy and relationships evolve in response to the growing presence of AI in everyday life.

Authors

• Skyler Wang, McGill University

• Marco Dehnert, University of Arkansas