AI’ve Got Company

Relationship experts feel that people who regularly turn to AI companions may not necessarily be seeking sexual gratification alone. They may be looking for attention, validation, intimacy and the feeling of being seen and wanted without the risk of rejection. Sangeeta Manglani, a Relationship Coach & Spiritual Psychologist points out that an AI companion offers something human relationships cannot always provide: constant, effortless responsiveness. It does not get irritated, have a bad day or reject someone because it is tired or simply “not in the mood”.

Lonliness or emotional deprivation, this can feel deeply comforting. “I am seeing more and more people quietly turn to AI companions for the kind of attention, validation or intimacy they may not be experiencing in the way they need or expect in their real relationships.” says Sangeeta.

Picture this: You come home after a disappointing date. You change into your pyjamas, crawl into bed and, instead of texting a friend, open your AI companion. You tell the AI chatbot how the date went. Then, almost jokingly, you turn the conversation flirtatious. The AI chatbot plays along instantly, syncing with your mood and giving you exactly the kind of attention you were hoping for. But the big question is whether this attention and intimacy is real?

Chat Bots vs Humans

The advances in large language models, long-term memory, personalised prompting, voice synthesis and multimodal AI are making chatbot interac-tions increasingly human-like. “Today, they (AI chatbots) can maintain context, remember details about a user, adapt their tone to emotional cues, and create a consistent personality over long conversations,” says Himanshu Yadav.

He points to platforms such as Nomi AI, Replika, Character.AI and Paradot, noting that dedicated AI companions are particularly significant because they are built around continuity and relationship-building, rather than simply answering questions. Yadav says, “People may feel less judged when talking to a chatbot, conversations can gradually reveal relationship histories, daily routines, preferences, fears and even sexual interests.”

He warns that users should not assume that an AI conversation is as private as a conversation with a trusted human. Depending on the platform, chats may be stored on remote servers and processed by different technology providers. His advice: Check what information the platform collects, how long it keeps it, who can access it and whether it can be DELETED. Don’t tell an AI companion anything you wouldn’t want exposed if your account or its database were ever compromised.

Lure of Easy Intimacy

An important aspect of AI relationships is that it is one-sided. Nirali Bhatia, a Counselling Psychologist & Psychotherapist, Founder & Director of

Nirali Bhatia Cyber Wellness Foundation says, “An AI companion is designed to be highly accommodating, and what it does is create a form of frictionless intimacy.”

That easy intimacy can come with a cost. People may become more vulnerable, open up readily and overshare things with AI chatbots. “The concern here is that you are not ready to have your views challenged or face a real reaction from an actual human partner,” she says. She calls this the “belief bubble.” A space where users become accustomed to agreeable responses from their AI companion and gradually lose tolerance for conflicting opinions, disagreement or emotional friction.

The risk can become more pronounced when sexual interactions are repeated. Nirali has encountered people in her clinical practice who say they prefer sexual self-exploration with an AI chatbot because it requires far less effort than intimacy with a human partner.

Spot The Red Flags

One warning sign is being unable to become sexually aroused with a human partner without first turning to an AI chatbot. Another red flag is when the chatbot becomes the first port of call for everything — a bad day, an argument with a neighbour, loneliness, emotional distress or sexual frustration. You are going to get into a dependency loop with your AI chatbot. And that, Nirali believes, is what makes frictionless intimacy potentially addictive. It gives users what they want without asking anything of them in return. “An AI companion can be personalised in terms of sexual needs, but real intimacy needs adjustments and independent boundaries with human partners to be respected,” she says.

The danger in AI sexting is when people become so accustomed to intimacy without rejection, negotiation or compromise that real intimacy starts feeling like too much work.

Nirali emphasises that sexting is not inherently harmful. The focus should instead be on the need driving someone towards AI intimacy. Whether it is validation, companionship, sexual exploration or simply feeling heard, that underlying need must be addressed first.

Beyond The Screen

AI may offer attention without awkwardness, intimacy without rejection and companionship without demands. But the real question is not whether AI can replace human intimacy, it is why are people turning to it in the first place. The answer may lie not in the AI chatbot, but in the human need it is quietly fulfilling!