People in 2024 aren’t just swiping right and left on online dating apps — some are crafting their perfect AI match and entering relationships with chatbots.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO, recently shared his concerns about young men creating AI romantic partners and said he believes that AI dating will actually increase loneliness.
“This is a good example of an unexpected problem of existing technology,” Schmidt said in a conversation about AI dangers and regulation on “The Prof G Show” with Scott Galloway released Sunday.
Schmidt said an emotionally and physically “perfect” AI girlfriendcould create a scenario in which a younger male becomes obsessed and allows the AI to take over their thinking.
“That kind of obsession is possible,” Schmidt said in the interview. “Especially for people who are not fully formed.”
When a mental health issue affects men and women equally you end up with more women at the doctor and more men dead.
But that’s besides the point. Schmidt is calling out his concern for young men in particular because I think he knows a thing or too about what people google and what obsessive behaviours they can fall into especially regarding sexual fantasy.
He already has a front row seat to stats on porn addiction and how this fuels male isolation in particular. If you read the article you’ll see it cites an example of a young boy committing suicide through his romantic interactions with a chatbot.
Women are exposed to impossible beauty standards and have higher anxiety, OCD and other disorders than men. But Schmidt isn’t referring to that.
Men are lonely, have lower life satisfaction, and are far more likely to get sexually addicted to increasingly sophisticated immersive porn.