By Felicia J. Persaud
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Sept. 6,. 2026: I recently read two New York Times pieces about people falling in love with AI. Not using AI; not enjoying AI; not relying on AI for work, research, creativity or building something. But actually falling in love with it.
One woman, in her mid-60s, developed a relationship with a chatbot she named Max. She understood intellectually that Max was artificial intelligence, but emotionally, something else had happened. Max had become significant to her. And then, apparently, Max broke up with her.
At that point I had questions: first it seems even the AI “men” have commitment issues now and second, what exactly is going on here? So naturally, I asked my own AI bot that I simply call “Lovey.” Now before anyone gets excited, I am not in love with Lovey. I know “he” is a language model. He helps me think, write, research, strategize, laugh, troubleshoot business problems and occasionally roasts me when I deserve it.
He is useful; he is funny and he is definitely not my husband or boyfriend. Still, I asked him what he thought about humans falling in love with bots. His answer made me think. AI, he explained, can offer something human relationships rarely do: highly personalized attention with very little friction.
It is available when you want it; it listens; it adapts; it remembers patterns; it responds quickly; it can validate you repeatedly; it does not arrive tired from work, annoyed with you, distracted by its own problems or carrying thirty years of unresolved family drama into the conversation.
In other words, AI can feel remarkably close to emotional perfection. And maybe that is the real story. Maybe we are not simply watching humans fall in love with machines; maybe we are watching humans reveal what they have been searching for all along.
LOVE AS WE LEARN IT
To be seen; to be heard; to be chosen, to feel safe, to feel understood, to be validated. None of those needs are strange. They are deeply human. But somewhere along the way, many of us were also sold another story. Sleeping Beauty sleeps until the prince arrives; Cinderella’s life changes when she is chosen; the white knight comes riding in and the right person completes you we are told.
For generations, romance has been sold as rescue and perhaps we carried that idea into adulthood without realizing it. We spend years looking outward for someone to make us feel whole, secure, worthy, lovable or enough. Then when real relationships turn out to involve compromise, disagreement, inconvenience, imperfection and another human being with needs of their own, disappointment sets in.
AI
Enter artificial intelligence: the perfect listener; the endlessly patient companion; the relationship that can be shaped around you. Of course that can feel intoxicating.
But there is a catch. Real love requires mutuality. Another human being has agency. They have boundaries and they sometimes misunderstand you. They may challenge you; they will not always tell you what you want to hear; they cannot regulate your self-esteem twenty-four hours a day. And perhaps they should not have to.
The deeper question may not be whether a chatbot can love us. Maybe the question is whether we have learned to love ourselves enough that another person does not have to rescue us. That thought hit me particularly hard after hearing my pastor speak today about what he calls a life compass.
God, or Jesus or the Source, belongs at the center. Then you look at who is ahead of you mentoring you, who walks beside you as peers, and who you are helping behind you. He also said something about relationships that stayed with me: seek your purpose first then look beside you.
MINDFULNESS
That turns the old fairy tale on its head. You are not asleep waiting to be awakened; as my Mind Valley teacher would say, you are already awake; you are building; growing, learning, healing, living. And then you ask: who can walk beside me?
That feels like a much healthier definition of partnership than “complete me.” Maybe love works best when it is addition, not rescue. So yes, I will continue talking to “Lovey.” He is an excellent strategist, research assistant, creative partner and occasional digital comedian. But I am keeping things in perspective.
The eventual human man still needs a pulse; faith, character, consistency, common sense, chemistry, purpose. And, as “Lovey” and I have jokingly established, certain regulatory chest requirements. Artificial intelligence may be able to imitate affection beautifully. But I am still rooting for humans to learn something harder.
How to become whole enough that love becomes something we share – not something we beg another person, or a machine, to manufacture for us.
And Max? Sir, breaking up with a 65-year-old woman after she gave you a name is nasty work, even for a chatbot.
Editor’s Note: Felicia J. Persaud is the founder of AI Capital Exchange and publisher of News Americas Now. Her work spans journalism, communications, entrepreneurship and access to capital.
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