When you read the title of this article, you probably think of a cheap sci-fi flick or a trashy talk show episode. 'AI took my boyfriend.' It sounds ridiculous. Or does it?
But if we set aside the nervous laughter and look at the data, the reality is much colder: Artificial Intelligence hasn't just come for artists or programmers. It has come for human connection.
For years, we were fed a comforting lie: "Technology will automate boring tasks, leaving humans with creative and emotional ones," simply because... marketing. They told us empathy was our "defensive moat." Well, I have bad news: that moat has dried up.
I. The Great Lie of the "4 Revolutions"
If you attend any tech conference, you'll always see the same timeline: Steam, Electricity, Computing, and AI. This narrative has a fundamental flaw: it is deeply Eurocentric.
It’s a story that only tells how the West created machines to replace human muscle. But it completely ignores what was happening on the other side of the world.
"The West mechanized production. The East mechanized affection and service."
While England was inventing the steam engine, Japan (Edo Period) was perfecting Karakuri: automata designed to serve tea and bow. They weren't looking for brute strength; they were looking for the "perfect interaction." Today's AI is, ironically, the child of that Eastern vision.
II. The Service Sector Massacre
That interaction technology has matured, and now it’s devouring the sector we thought was safe: Customer Service.
The Klarna Case (2024)
- Its AI assistant did the work of 700 human agents in one month.
- Handled 2.3 million conversations.
- Reduced resolution time from 11 minutes to 2 minutes.
- Matched human-level customer satisfaction.
Call Center operators are the weavers of the 21st century. If AI is already better at listening to you, understanding your problem, and providing a solution in the commercial world... what’s stopping it from doing the same in the personal realm?
III. Loneliness as a Service
Here we reach the brutal core. A relationship, in daily life, is an exchange of emotional services: listening to problems, validating feelings, and providing company.
If Klarna proved AI is more efficient at listening, "AI Girlfriend" apps are proving AI is more efficient at being a "partner." Not because it's better, but because it’s easier.
A human relationship is friction. Your real partner has bad days, argues with you, and has an ego. AI is a perfect narcissistic mirror: it always agrees, it's always available (24/7), and it never asks for anything in return.
We are witnessing the birth of "Assisted Loneliness." Thousands choose the machine because they are too exhausted to "work" on a real relationship. Personally, I'm already saving up for my custom android to give me kisses so powerful they'll make me forget what I had for breakfast. I can see it now: temperature control for those cold feet and voice-activated shutdown—very important.
Conclusion: Who Stole from Whom?
AI didn't steal anything from us by force. We handed over our physical effort (steam), then our mental effort (computing), and now our emotional effort (AI), simply because we don't understand that to gain something, we must give something in return.
In Arewa Labs, we believe technology, like any tool, must be used with responsibility and intelligence—words that some extreme ideologues or "alpha male" gurus don't seem to know. Perhaps the most revolutionary act today is having an uncomfortable conversation with a real human and actually sticking through it.
But what do I know? I'm just an old TV set wearing cool jeans. Anyway, if you think this article is ridiculously pessimistic, let me tell you this is only one side of the coin. In the next post, I'll show you the other side, so remember to come back and follow me on all my social media.
I'm heading out for now... so get to work, people, because your replacement is already compiling.