The AI Chatbot Always Flirts With Me, Should I Flirt Back: From the McDonaldization of Friendship to the Robotization of Love

How is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as machine learning (ML) algorithms and Large Language Models (LLMs), in social chatbots transforming friendship and love? This study investigates Replika, an app offering AI friends and/or lovers to users. Unlike most AI companion research grounded in Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) and interpersonal communication theories, this study employs the sociological concept of McDonaldization to interrogate broader social and cultural implications of Replika. I argue that McDonaldization offers a systematic framework to understand the fast friendship and fast love provided by social chatbots while accounting for its limits in addressing the personalization enabled by emerging AI technologies. To bridge the conceptual gap, I propose the term “Robotization of Love,” pointing to the merging of efficient, quantifiable, predictable, and controllable love and algorithmically personalized love. The Robotization of Love also underscores the growing significance of robotic elements in shaping our affection and sociality.