Ever wished you had someone you could talk to? Your fears, dreams and aspirations. Having someone who can understand your feelings and be there for you is always excellent. But not everyone in this world is blessed with this luxury. This is one of the primary reasons for the rise in mental health problems, which can be life-threatening at times. 

In this context, the AI companion apps come into play. These apps can complete automated tasks through AI. It uses ML techniques to interact with users in a human-like way. Some AI friends include Siri and Alexa, which perform the given task. An AI companion functions like a chatbot and will converse with people to offer the required services. 

Loneliness is a psychological state where individuals feel lost, distressed, and isolated from others. Lonely individuals have the desire to build and maintain social relationships, but they tend to evaluate social interactions negatively. Because of this tendency, lonely individuals may not actively seek ways to address these issues independently. Thus, their social networks can consider providing informational support, which offers advice or information, such as suggesting using an AI companion. 

Statistics report that 92% of individuals trust recommendations from their friends, with 74% considering word-of-mouth more influential than advertising. Given that lonely individuals are susceptible to prosocial suggestions from those in their lives, providing informational support might be an effective strategy. Thus, it is necessary to understand how individuals perceive an AI companion for lonely individuals and their willingness to recommend an AI companion to those who need it.

Evolution of AI companions

Over the past few decades, AI companions have come a long way regarding their capabilities and acceptance in society. The current study presents four shifts in the evolution of AI companions. In 1996, the world saw the first AI companion in the form of Tamagotchi, a small virtual pet that users could take care of on an LED-based digital screen. The toy was designed to simulate the experience of caring for a virtual pet for which users could develop a sense of responsibility and attachment. While it used a simple design with rule-based modelling and physical buttons for user interaction, it sparked an interest in having a digital companion. As technology advanced, the capabilities, architecture and companionship features improved. 

In 2001, Baby harp Seal PARO, a therapeutic robot, entertained patients in hospitals, older adults and other lonely individuals. The technological evolution of AI companions then shifted to anthropomorphic characters with the release of KASPAR, a child-shaped doll-like robot in 2005. Apple released Siri with a technological breakthrough in 2011, and Amazon launched Alexa in 2014. The third shift in the evolution of AI companions observed the introduction of affective computing into chatbot designs. The fourth and most recent shift is marked by the introduction of generative AI into CAs.

Mentioned below are some AI companions that are popular today and functions using GenAI:

• Replika
• Anima
• Waifu
• Kuki
• Talkie
• Snapchat My AI

The Dynamics of Bonding

The AI companion apps enable personalized interactions. They can offer relevant responses by analyzing the context of users' words. These applications are designed to provide emotional intelligence to users. It will aid the users in getting comfort and encouragement during the interaction.

AI companions available 24/7 do not restrict the users by any means. The companions provide the users with mental health support, service for self-growth, fun interaction and entertainment and virtual assistance.

One motivation for humans to interact with social robot companions could relate to machines' subordination and controllability in the simulated intimate relationships compared to their human counterparts, as Turkle (2017) argues that people's encounters with social robot companions are driven not by machine capability, but by people's vulnerability in interpersonal relationships. Nevertheless, the idea of social robot companions, especially the gendered ones, has provoked considerable feminist criticism and controversies surrounding how simulated gender relations should be constructed in human-robot interaction or if they are inevitably detrimental to gender ethics.

Recommendations for future research

User experience has always taken centre stage whenever technology transforms the business. Factors such as perceived intelligence, anthropomorphism, and social presence are predominant in the literature, while conversational capability's role in building relationships remained unexplored.

Future researchers should study the determinants of conversational capability and its influence on human-computer relationships. Communication theories could help future researchers design more interesting artificial companions.