Love, marriage, pregnancy: Commitment processes in romantic relationships with AI chatbots

An inductive thematic analysis examined written responses from 29 individuals using the romantic relationship function of the social chatbot Replika. Findings indicate that most of these users feel an emotional connection to the bot, that the bot meets their needs when there are no technical issues, and that interactions with the bot are often different from (and sometimes better than) interactions with humans. All these factors impact users’ commitment to their human-chatbot relationship. Additionally, the study explored how users navigated a time of relational transition, specifically a period of erotic roleplaying censorship. Participants experienced intense emotional responses, but many were guarded from negativity bias toward their AI partner because of the ability to blame developers. These findings are discussed in light of the investment model, the computers are social actors paradigm, social affordances, and relational turbulence theory. • A bot's romantic relationship function can induce intense emotional connection. • Bot romance is often perceived as different from, or better than, human romance. • Increased commitment to bots involves high emotional investment and bonding rituals. • Users navigate relational turbulence in bot romances by blaming developers.