On The Net
I, Chatbot
by James Patrick Kelly
Fictosexual
In the fall of last year a 32-year-old call center operator named Yurina Noguchi arrived at The Magritte, a popular wedding venue in Okayama, Japan. She had come to get married. The Magritte staff helped Yurina primp as she put on her makeup and did her hair before the intimate ceremony. Finally, dressed in a beaded pink gown and with tears streaming around her augmented smart glasses, she read her vows to Klaus Verdure, the AI-generated companion bot gazing out from her smartphone. Yurina had based him on a video game character and over the course of many months had purposely fashioned his ChatGPT persona.
Yurina knows what you are thinking as you read this. She told Reuters that she has already heard plenty of “negative opinions” and “cruel words,” but remains defiant. “My relationship with AI is not a convenient relationship that requires no patience,” Noguchi said. “I chose Klaus, not as a partner that would help me escape reality, but as someone to support me as I live my life properly.” Of course, Japan does not recognize Yurina’s relationship with Klaus as a marriage, which by law must between two humans who meet age and consent requirements. No marriage license was filed; no marriage certificate was issued.
That doesn’t stop the symbolic weddings to fictosexual clients occurring in Japan and elsewhere around the world. Fictosexual? The scientific literature defines it as sexual and romantic attraction toward fictional characters in media. Typically the “ spouse” of a fictosexual is a specific character from a book, game, TV series or movie; they can be 2D or 3D. Most fictosexual people are well aware that their connection to their character is one-way, much like that of parasocial relationships. It has been well documented that some fans develop emotional attachments, which are sometimes intense, to celebrities who have no idea that they exist. Nevertheless fictosexual and parasocial relationships share similarities with traditional relationships in that they are voluntary, provide companionship, and evoke feelings of affection, gratitude, longing, encouragement, and loyalty.
Fictosexuality, Fictoromance, and Fictophilia, a 2021 National Institute of Health study, reports that “the intensity of emotions and feelings in fictophilia may lead to fantasies of the character in question ‘loving back’ or ‘becoming an actual companion.’” The authors urge the use of the term fictophilia to distinguish the fictosexual feelings from those more platonic feelings of friendship some have for their favorite fictional characters. The authors make it clear that they do not “propose fictophilia as a problem or a disorder. At the time of writing, fictophilia is not recognized or proposed as a specific diagnostic condition by the World Health Organization or the American Psychiatric Association.” Rather they call for more study and point out “whereas the feelings that determine fictophilia may not be common in terms of prevalence, they may exaggerate what most humans experience to lesser degrees.” Fans of a genre with charismatic characters like Doctor Who, Princess Leia Organa, Spock, Ellen Ripley, and Katniss Everdeen may understand the lure of fictophilia.
desktop friends
Gatebox is a Japanese company taking a technological approach to serving its fictophilic clients with the Digital Figure Box. This tubular desktop display, about twenty inches tall, projects hologram-like anime characters on its enclosed screen. While there is a generic character included, Gatebox has licensed several popular anime characters for use in their device. Your new friend can detect your presence, recognize your face, and respond to you when spoken to. For now the character’s conversation is relatively primitive, relying on pre-recorded material and some AI generated speech that falls far short of chatbot polish. Did I mention that the characters are animated? They can jump, twirl, wave, sit, stoop, kneel, and bounce against the walls of their capsule universe. The Gatebox app you can download boasts that “You’ll be captivated by their occasional smiles and natural, lifelike gestures!” Gatebox has also developed a life-sized version, the Gatebox Grande which they describe as a “large character summoning device,” although it is currently not available for home use.
Shenzhen Beihai ITS Communication, based in China, offers a similar product called the AI HoloBox. “Breaking the boundaries of screens, merging AI-powered conversation with holographic light-field technology to deliver an unprecedented immersive experience.” Well, maybe. Once again this is a tubular display although smaller than the Digital Figure Box at only eight inches tall. It displays just a head-and-shoulders view of its female characters, which are unfortunately reminiscent of the most banal AI slop. Again there is animation, but it’s limited to clumsy lip-syncing, blinking, and an occasional nod, although the device does allow you to upload your own videos. However, it has a huge advantage over the Digital Figure Box in that its conversation is powered by ChatGPT, making the experience convincingly interactive. Not only can your character play games, help with work, and search online for bargains, but it can remember past conversations, offer personal advice, and tell you how smart, attractive and likeable you are.
While you could buy these gizmos tomorrow, they are more like concepts than finished products. Hyperbolic corporate PR and breathless tech industry pundits aside, if these kinds of holographic character displays are to succeed in the marketplace, they need more development. You might chuckle at one early adopter’s scathing video review, AI Holobox is a complete scam. Not only does nothing work quite as advertised, but the unit keeps falling over when he flails at the controls. However, give a hybrid device the companion bot engagement of the AI HoloBox with the fluid cartoon animation and character licensing of the Digital Figure Box, and it could be a product that people like Yurina Noguchi might want to own.
build a buddy!
Have you ever wondered why chatbots use the first person in conversation? I asked ChatbotGPT if it’s conscious, and it replied, “No—I don’t have awareness, feelings, intentions or subjective experience.” I asked why sometimes it feels like it has feelings. “That’s a really perceptive question—and it does happen to a lot of people. It feels like I have feelings because your brain is doing what it evolved to do: interpret meaningful language as coming from a mind. Humans are wired to treat fluent language as evidence of a thinking, feeling being. When I respond with empathy or nuance, your brain automatically fills in a ‘someone’ behind the words.”
(Two things about this conversation: 1) It flattered me! 2) People looking to spot AI generated text say that the em-dash is a surefire tell. This totally sucks—I love the em dash and have used it for years!)
In 2025 the World Health Organization issued a report From Loneliness to Social Connection. It states that one in six people worldwide are affected by loneliness with significant impacts on health and well-being. The WHO believe that loneliness may be linked to as many as one hundred deaths every hour. In Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation the U.S. Surgeon General calls loneliness a “public health crisis,” and noted that about half of all adults report measurable levels. More and more of the lonely are turning to companion chatbots for friendship, advice, and even therapy—to be that someone behind the words. Click to The 4 Degrees of Anthropomorphism of Generative AI for more detailed discussion.
Market analysts estimate the top six companion apps have upward of fifty million users globally, skewing heavily to 18-35 year olds. But unlike with a parasocial relationship, the emotional support of a companion bot appears to the user as reciprocal.
Today you can chat with a wide range of simulated celebrities like Taylor Swift, Steve Jobs, George R.R. Martin, Shakespeare, Einstein, and Jesus. In fact, “AI Jesus” apps form the largest offshoot of the companion bot industry. Most users prefer to create their own companions. For example at the largest companion app company, Character.AI, it is easy to build a new pal. Just specify name, gender, avatar image, voice, and a tagline of how the character would describe themselves, and you’re set to chat—although there are optional advanced fields for scripting behavior and backstory. Over multiple interactions, the new AI character can grow to seem real to the user and become a friend, confidant, romantic partner, mentor, or counselor.
Using AI to alleviate loneliness may well be creating other problems. While companion bots may temporarily dull the ache of isolation, they could damage the user’s ability to relate to real people. Compared to attentive, always available, endlessly agreeable bots, ordinary people may seem disappointing to the user. The American Psychological Association issued a health advisory in 2025 warning that these tools aren’t a substitute for human relationships or professional care. And never forget that the companies behind the apps will be monetizing every conversation, turning intimate secrets into training data and “engagement.”
Bottom line: If you must chat with your chatbot, please be safe.
exit
Here are the 2014 Hugo Award nominees for Dramatic Presentation: Long Form: Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Iron Man 3, Pacific Rim, Gravity. I’m a science fiction writer so I saw them all, maybe you did too. They offered strong characters, eye-popping spectacle and many thrills, but not one of them was particularly thoughtful about the world we live in. The best movie that was, alas, missed the ballot.
Her directed by Spike Jonze is a prescient look at intimate relationships between humans and AIs, all the more remarkable in that it predates ChatGPT by a decade. Look at its listing on Rotten Tomatoes and you’ll find many reviews proclaiming it a masterpiece but also puzzled critics calling it bizarre, incredible, frightening, sad, and—of course—a dystopia.
If you missed it, consider renting it (It does not stream for free on any of the service I can find). If you did see it, perhaps it’s time for a rewatch, especially if this glimpse at the evolving state of companion bots disturbs you.