Have you heard about AI companions?
I won't say that most people have, but I expect that most tech enthusiasts have.
If you did not learn about names like Character AI, you probably heard it when Grok launched AI companions and Elon Musk got dragged for it as he's actively preached concerns for declining birth rates, yet launches a product that would further push people away from seeking real human connections.
If not any of that, maybe you came across "Friend," the wearable AI companion that's been putting ads everywhere and reportedly bought the "friend.com" domain for $1.8m.
There's been quite a lot going on when it comes to AI companions. According to an August report from TechCrunch, AI companion apps have been downloaded over 220 million times as of July 2025, across Apple app store and Google play, with downloads up 88% year-over-year.
Like I said, big deal, over $221 million in consumer spending worldwide were reported at the time, proving a real demand for what these companion apps offer.
Now, people are going to be quick to talk about how bad this all is, how it's the end of the world as we know it, the death of real human connections, those talking points that usually flies on topics that seek to address humans seeking connections away from the physical space, for several personal reasons.
These conversations mostly don't yield anything good because in the real world, the problems that pushes people to seek companionship elsewhere remains and this has caused many to fall victim of scams.
Romantic partners are actively sought after and many individuals across social platforms work tirelessly to defraud these vulnerable people. As much as $1.14 billion is lost to romance scams annually, with median losses at $2,000 per person.
With AI companions on the rise, we can look at the bright side of things. Rather than staying stuck losing money to scammers, those seeking companionship can turn to AI and spend much less to get what they need to push through.
Some of these apps cost less than $10, meaning that it will take more than 16 years to burn through $2,000, which is currently lost to remonace scams annually per victim.
I certainly acknowledge that AI can be used to further exploit these people, but with the right education in place, they can be safely directed to ethical companion apps, where they understand that they are dealing with AI and not real people, but can still get the attention and whatever else they desire.
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