When Will You Fall in Love with a Chatbot? Artificial Intelligence Is Getting Better at Impersonating the Human Soul

We stand on the threshold of another AI revolution. Growing lonelier, we reach for the illusion of closeness in the digital world.

By Agata Kaźmierska

At first, the only noticeable change was that 14-year-old Sewell lost interest in things that had previously excited him, like Formula 1 racing or playing online with friends. After coming home he'd shut himself in his room, and his parents assumed it was simply adolescence. But when he started getting into trouble at school and refused to talk about it, they sent him to a psychotherapist. Sewell didn't want to discuss his problems with him either — he already had someone else to confide in.