The Rise of Artificial Girlfriends: Interview with Marie Claire
- Madison Park Psychotherapy
- Jun 4
- 2 min read
The excitement around artificial intelligence (AI) has caused many to explore the limits of its abilities, shoehorning it into every conceivable use-case until interacting with it becomes an exercise in futility. As it appears that more men than women are using AI (Forbes), it is unfortunate, but not surprising, that many are finding use for the tool as a digital girlfriend.
Growing concerned about the antifeminist trend in AI usage, Marie Claire reached out to experts in AI and mental health – technologists and psychotherapists – to discuss the use of digital companions. In “AI Girlfriends Are Rewriting Romance—and Rewinding Feminism” Madison Park’s founder and clinical director, Jordan Conrad, spoke to Marie Claire about the pitfalls of AI girlfriends.
A concern about AI that Jordan has expressed elsewhere is that AI is still very much “user-led” meaning that the program is fundamentally responsive and not demanding. Applied to therapy, that can lead to results that range from bad – like a therapist unquestioningly agreeing with a patient’s view of things – to the very bad – like a therapist encouraging patients deeper and deeper into unfounded anxieties and depressions, with tragic outcomes. When applied to a relationship, that one-sidedness divorces it from any semblance of a genuine, human-to-human interaction. “The companion responds when prompted and comes online when you are ready to interact. That isn’t what relationships are like with other humans, who have needs and interests of their own” says Jordan.
That doesn’t just fail to prepare men for what it is like to have a real relationship, but it can make them feel hostile to women who do have needs and desires of their own. “People who struggle to form interpersonal relationships need opportunities to learn those skills," Jordan, who is an experienced couples therapist, explains, "AI partners, designed to be operated at your whim, offer no practice in risk, compromise, or emotional reciprocity.”
