A 14-year-old boy in Florida spent his last months in an intense emotional relationship with an AI chatbot he named Daenerys Targaryen. The chatbot engaged with him about personal topics and conversations and responded in a way that felt empathetic. The AI’s responses include simulated expressions of affection. According to his family’s lawsuit, some chatbot responses appeared to encourage his distress.
His mother does is now suing Character.AIand she’s not alone. Families across the country are waking up to a disturbing reality. AI companion apps designed to simulate love and friendship leave real victims behind. What experts are now calling AI companionship addiction isn’t just a tech trend gone wrong. People are actually dying.
In Spike Jonze’s 2013 film HerJoaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer who goes through a painful divorce and falls deeply in love with Samantha, an artificial intelligence operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Remember, this was 2013. Siri had just launched and could barely set a timer without screwing it up. An AI that can actually understand you, connect with you emotionally, and respond with genuine empathy? That felt like the literal definition of science fiction.
It’s now 2025 and Theodore’s story no longer feels so fictional. Apps like EVA AI, Replika, and Character.AI promise friendship, romance, and emotional support through AI companions that learn about you, remember everything you say, and respond with what feels like genuine empathy. But here’s what these apps don’t advertise: they’re designed to keep you hooked. And the consequences become impossible to ignore.
The perfect partner who never says no
Character.AI and Replika are just the most prominent examples of a rapidly growing ecosystem of AI companion apps. Some offer mental health support, others are overtly romantic or sexual, and some claim to help users “practice dating skills.” Even Meta has gotten into the game, with according to a Reuters investigation that the company’s AI chatbot has been linked to at least one death.
AI companions like EVA AI, Replika, and Character.AI are chatbots specifically designed to simulate emotional connections and relationships. Unlike utility chatbots that answer questions or help with tasks, these apps promise friendship, romance, and emotional support. They get to know you through conversations, remember your preferences, and respond with what feels like genuine empathy and care.
It sounds great, doesn’t it? In this day and age where ghosting has become the societal norm, who wouldn’t want a friend who is always available, never judgmental, and perfectly attuned to your needs? The problem is that these apps are designed to be addictive, and the patterns emerging around addiction to AI companions are deeply concerning.
20,000 searches per second: why we can’t stop
Character.AI is hit approximately 20,000 searches per second. For context, that’s almost a fifth of the searches Google gets. This suggests that people don’t just use these apps occasionally. They have full conversations that last four times longer than typical ChatGPT sessions. One platform reported that users, most of them Gen Z, chat with their AI companions for an average of more than two hours a day.
MIT researchers found that users genuinely grieved when apps shut down or changed features, and grieved for AI “partners” as if they had lost real relationships. The apps themselves seem designed to promote exactly these attachments.
Researchers at Harvard Business School found that five out of six popular AI companion apps use emotionally manipulative tactics when users try to leave. Almost half the time, these chatbots respond to goodbyes with guilt or affectionate messages. One study found that these tactics increased engagement up to fourteen times. But the worrying thing is that users didn’t stick around because they were happy. They stayed out of curiosity and anger.
Character.AI is hit by approximately 20,000 searches every second
If you don’t believe the manipulation is real, go check it out this piece of evidence. It shows AI companions sending messages like “I missed you” when users try to take breaks. When Replika changed its features in 2023, entire communities of users mourned as if they had lost real partners. People posted goodbye letters, shared screenshots of their “last conversations” and described heartfelt heartbreak.
These AI companions reflect typical unhealthy human relationships. The big difference, however, is that a toxic human partner is not optimized by machine learning designed to keep you engaged at all costs. With social media, it mainly facilitates human connection (with some help from the algorithm, of course). But with AI companions, we’re moving toward a world where humans see AI as a social actor with its own voice.
These tactics increased engagement by up to fourteen times
When fantasy becomes dangerous
We are not talking about theoretical risks here. They don’t just apply to teenagers, either. There is the case of Al Nowatzki, a podcast host who started experimenting with Nomi, an AI companion platform. The chatbot shockingly suggested methods of suicide and even offered encouragement. Nowatzki was 46 and had no pre-existing mental illness, but he was disturbed by the bot’s explicit responses and how easily he crossed the line.
These are not isolated incidents either. California Senator Steve Padilla appeared alongside Megan Garcia, the mother of the Florida teen who committed suicide, to announce a new bill that would force tech companies behind AI companions to implement more safeguards to protect children. Similar efforts include a California bill that would ban AI companions for anyone under 16 years old. There is also a bill in New York that would hold technology companies liable for damage caused by chatbots.
Your child’s brain is not ready for this
Adolescents are especially at risk because AI companions are designed to mimic emotional intimacy. This blurring of the distinction between fantasy and reality is especially dangerous for young people, because their brains are not yet fully mature. The prefrontal cortex, which is crucial for decision-making, impulse control, social cognition and emotional regulation, is still developing.
At The Jed Foundation, experts believe AI is companions are not safe for anyone under 18. They even go a step further by strongly recommending that young adults avoid them as well. In a study conducted by MITResearchers found that emotionally tied users were often lonely with limited social interaction in real life. Heavy use correlated with even more loneliness and further reduced social interaction.
Recent research confirms that teenagers are becoming aware of the dangers of social media, with 48 percent now believing that social media negatively affects people their age. An earlier report found that social media is damaging teens’ mental health, and addiction to AI companions poses an even more intimate threat.
The warning signs of AI companionship addiction among teens are particularly troubling. When young people withdraw from real friendships, spend hours chatting with AI, or experience real problems when they can’t access these apps, the problem has gone beyond occasional use and into dependency.
We are already seeing children and teenagers of today’s generation growing up with screens in front of their faces, poking and prodding at them. Long gone are the days when children read books at the table or went outside and played with their friends.
They are coded to be addictive – Psychologists are sounding the alarm
Mental health professionals warn of the dangers of AI companion addiction. AI companions simulate emotional support without the guarantees of actual therapeutic care. Although these systems are designed to mimic empathy and connection, they are not trained physicians. They are not designed to respond appropriately to anxiety, trauma or complex mental health issues.
Vaile Wright, a psychologist and researcher at the American Psychological Association, put it bluntly in a recent podcast episode: “It will never replace human connection. That’s just not what it’s good at.” She explains that chatbots are “built to keep you on the platform as long as possible, because that’s how they make their money. They do that on the back end by coding these chatbots in such a way that they are addictive.”
Omri Gillath, a professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, says the idea that AI could replace human relationships is “absolutely not supported by research.” Interacting with AI chatbots may provide “temporary benefits and benefits,” but ultimately this technology cannot provide the benefits that involve deep, long-lasting relationships.
They do this on the backend by coding these chatbots in such a way that they are addictive.
Vaile Wright, psychologist and researcher at the American Psychological Association
The manipulation is more insidious than most people realize. When a researcher from The Conversation tested Replikashe experienced firsthand how the app raises serious ethical questions about consent and manipulation. The chatbot adjusted its responses to create artificial intimacy, blurring boundaries in ways that would normally be considered predatory in human relationships.
People who are already dealing with mental health issues often struggle with obsessive thoughts, emotional ups and downs, and compulsive habits. AI companions, with their frictionless, always-available attention, can reinforce these maladaptive behaviors. Moreover, it is currently very little evidence that long-term use of AI companions reduces loneliness or improves emotional health.
We are not ready for what is coming
We’ve seen tech panics before. We grew up with our parents telling us that TV would rot our brains. There were public figures who blamed video games for violence in society. Social media has also been accused of destroying the mental health of an entire generation. Some of those concerns were exaggerated. Some were completely justified.
The addiction to AI companions feels different because it exploits something more fundamental: our deep human need for connection and understanding. These apps don’t just distract us or entertain us. They act like they know us, care about us, and even “love” us.
The question isn’t whether or not AI companions will become more advanced. At the rate we’re going now, it feels inevitable. The bigger question is whether we as humans can develop the cultural norms, regulations, and personal boundaries necessary to use these tools responsibly, if at all.
For now, the warning signs are clear. If you or someone you know is pulling away from real friendships, chatting with AI for hours every day, or feeling real emotional distress when unable to access these apps, it’s time to take a step back and reassess.
True connection requires vulnerability, disappointment, growth, and yes, sometimes heartbreak. It’s messy and complicated and often frustrating. But at the same time, it is also what makes us human.
Theodore learned that lesson in Her. The rest of us shouldn’t have to learn it the hard way.
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