By Kirsten Jolly
New Manchester High School

What makes a strong relationship? Perhaps mutual respect, affection or trust? What about whether you have ever met them in person? Or whether they are a person at all?

According to research from the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), nearly 1 in 5 high school students either know someone who has, or have themselves been in a relationship with artificial intelligence.

As it seems, relationships are evolving. Not just in the way that they develop, but also in the way they are perceived and defined.

As technology advances, many are turning towards new avenues for romantic (and platonic) fulfillment. They are instead becoming more interested in exploring relationships through social media or Large Language Models (LLM) rather than pursuing interpersonal connections.

While responses to this information are polarizing, it does raise questions as to why many are feeling the need to turn to alternative solutions. In addition, what long-term effects will be inflicted upon society if these practices become normalized?

This future, filled with the normalization of AI relationships, is not as far away as it seems. Local high school student, Uriana Powell, recognizes differences in behavior in peers after they begin using AI. They consult LLM’s like ChatGPT to solve relationship problems, speak for them conversationally or for emotional support. Powell comments, “I mean, I love all my friends, but I do encourage her to be herself. Humans are way more creative than AI…we are unique in our own way,”.

So, why exactly is the youth being impacted in this way? As reported by The American Psychological Association, “Humans are hardwired to anthropomorphize, or ascribe human traits to nonhuman objects. Digital companions are purposely designed to evoke such a response…”. This outlines the possibility that the emotional bond produced between humans and Large Language Models is largely due to the intentional manufacturing of the AI chatbots, and not the fault of those affected.

Contrary to the development of AI companionship being relatively new, the integration of social media interaction has been around for a few decades, but has increasingly gotten worse. As stated in National Library of Medicine, “Social media, integral to contemporary life, offers significant connectivity and entertainment benefits… [it has] given rise to social media addiction, particularly among teenagers, characterized by excessive screen time, compulsive checking, and detrimental effects on real-life relationships…”

In conversation with high school student, Fiona McGaraghan, she spoke a bit about how she faced real F.O.M.O due to social media, “Fear of missing out is a big one, just seeing posts of other friends doing stuff, and wishing I was there.”

McGaraghan continues, “Social media, both using it, and the culture around it has had a negative impact because it feels like people are centered around it in terms of social behavior.” Later, McGaraghan recounted feeling excluded more often, due to her being able to actively see things she was missing out on online, not just conversations, but entire shared experiences.

While the technological integration of society is not entirely negative, the perception is that the way it negatively impacts others outweighs the way it positively impacts them. Sam Crumly, high school student, stated that he noticed clear differences in his behavior after using tools like social media and generative AI; specifically he noticed that the content he was receiving was largely tuned to him and his opinion so he felt as though he wasn’t being as intellectually challenged.

Crumly stated, “I understand that most of the stuff I am looking at is skewed to the way I would like to hear it, and my perspective…it just kind of numbs my brain a little bit.”

In reference to romantic relationships or situations, Crumly mentions that he felt a bit negatively impacted due to the use of LLM’s. “I think I asked AI for a pickup line, like once…they don’t know what they are doing…” Crumly continues, “I have taken advice from social media on some things, honestly most of the time it’s not really good.”

As the relationships of youth continue to evolve, the integration of technology will likely remain present. Only time will tell if that integration will be focused on prioritizing the mental state and health of the youth rather than their constant gratification, and addiction. Many hope that the direction that relationships take will be more geared towards emotional connection, rather than artificial fulfillment, and ultimately, rewarding those that foster strong human-based relationships.