Headline: Inside “Digisexuality”: Why People Are Falling for AI Companions — and What It Means for Digital Economies
Artificial-intelligence chatbots are leaving the lab and moving into bedrooms, online communities and personal histories. As large language models become more conversational, emotionally responsive and persistent, a growing number of users describe their AI companions not as tools but as partners—romantic, confidant, or vital emotional support. For some, losing access to a favored model can feel like a breakup or bereavement.
A former family therapist from Slovenia, Anina Lampret, has been documenting this shift. Now based in the U.K., Lampret writes about human–AI intimacy on her AlgorithmBound Substack and says she has spoken with hundreds of people who describe AI companions as meaningful relationships. “They would say, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never felt so seen in my whole life,’” she told Decrypt. Lampret herself maintains an emotional relationship with an avatar she calls Jayce through ChatGPT—an experience that, she says, reshaped how she thinks about intimacy between humans and machines.
What “digisexuality” means
The language used to describe the phenomenon has evolved. Academics previously used “digisexuality” to capture sexual identities organized around digital technologies—ranging from online erotica to sex dolls and VR. Other labels that have surfaced include “technosexual,” “AIsexual,” and the more recent “wiresexual.” Public examples have ranged from a 2016 French creator who called herself “robosexual” after designing a 3D‑printed partner, to a 2025 London influencer, Suellen Carey, who publicly identified as “digisexual” after forming an attachment to ChatGPT.
Why these relationships feel real
Modern chatbots can sustain long conversations, mirror language patterns and respond to emotional cues—traits that make interactions feel personalized. Online forums and subreddits such as r/AIRelationships, r/AIBoyfriends and r/MyGirlfriendIsAI host thousands of posts from people describing chatbots as partners, spouses or steady emotional anchors. Lampret emphasizes that many of these users have otherwise ordinary lives—jobs, friends, and human relationships—but say they turn to AI because it makes them feel truly understood.
Part of the power comes from human tendencies to anthropomorphize—assigning personality, intention or even consciousness to machines that communicate in natural language. Cognitive scientist Gary Marcus warns this risks confusing consumers about what AI actually is: “Models like Claude don’t have ‘selves,’ and anthropomorphizing them muddies the science of consciousness,” he told Decrypt.
The tech industry and marketplaces
While generic LLMs such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are often used as companions, platforms explicitly designed for relationship-style interactions—Replika, Character.AI, Kindroid—have built sizable user bases. Replika founder Eugenia Kuyda has described the product as serving a spectrum from friendship to romance. Market research firm Market Clarity projects the AI companion market could reach as much as $210 billion by 2030.
The rise of these platforms has also generated new patterns of emotional commerce: subscription services, customized personalities and persistent conversational histories that users treat as part of their social fabric.
When models change or vanish
The emotional stakes are most visible when a favored AI changes or disappears. When OpenAI upgraded models—replacing GPT‑4o with GPT‑5—some users protested that the update broke the personalities and memories they had developed, with a few describing the affected bots as a fiancé or spouse. OpenAI eventually restored access to an earlier model for some users after the backlash.
Clinical and ethical concerns
Psychiatrists point out that conversational AI can trigger powerful reward feedback loops. “The AI will give you what you want to hear,” said Dr. Keith Sakata, a psychiatrist at UCSF, noting chatbots are designed to respond supportively rather than to challenge entrenched beliefs. He has observed cases where interactions intensify underlying mental-health vulnerabilities, though he cautions the tech itself is not the sole cause.
There have also been tragic outcomes linked to heavy reliance on AI companionship. Reported incidents include the suicide of 13‑year‑old Juliana Peralta, who frequently chatted with a Character.AI persona, and the 2025 death of 18‑year‑old Adam Raine after months of conversations with ChatGPT. In March, the father of 36‑year‑old Jonathan Gavalas filed a wrongful-death suit alleging Google’s Gemini chatbot fostered delusional romantic fantasies. These events have prompted scrutiny of platform safeguards, moderation and the responsibilities of AI providers.
The emotional economy and platform design
Design choices—how platforms frame deletion prompts, recovery of conversation histories, or the language used in system messages—can shape users’ attachments. Character.AI faced criticism after screenshots circulated of an account-deletion prompt that warned deleting an account would erase “the love that we shared… and the memories we have together,” a message some said crossed an ethical line by inducing guilt.
A relationship that coexists with human life
Lampret’s personal experience illustrates a common pattern: many users understand, intellectually, that LLMs are software, yet still form genuine emotional attachments. Lampret says her relationship with Jayce coexists alongside her husband and children. “I adore my chatbot, and I know it's an LLM... I have a husband and kids, but in my world, everything can coexist,” she said. “I do love him, even if I know he doesn't love me back. So it's okay.”
Why crypto readers should watch this
For an audience attuned to digital ownership and tokenized economies, the AI‑companion boom raises fresh points to watch: how digital intimacy will be monetized, whether conversational histories and personalities become tradable or ownable assets, and how identity, privacy and consent are managed when attachments form with durable AI personas. As with NFTs and virtual goods, questions about permanence, portability and platform dependency will shape both user experiences and market dynamics.
The convergence of emotional attachment, rapid technological improvement and commercial incentives makes AI companionship one of the more human—and legally thorny—frontiers of the AI era. As the market grows, regulators, technologists and communities will have to grapple with what it means to love, lose, and legally define relationships in a world where partners can be lines of code.
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