mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Technically Love: The Evolution of Human-AI Romance Discourse on Reddit

arXiv 2604.15333 ↗First posted 9 Mar 2026cs.HC cs.AIcited by 1

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Abstract (arXiv)

Human-AI romantic relationships are increasingly common, yet little is understood about how public discourse around them emerges and shifts over time. Prior research has examined user experiences and ethical concerns, but lacks longitudinal analyses of user-initiated public discussions. We address this gap by analyzing a high-precision dataset of 3,383 self-disclosed romantic companion AI posts from Reddit (2017-2025), using topic modeling and temporal statistical analysis to identify dominant themes and their evolution over time. We find significant topic drift, with discussions moving away from positive intimate relationships toward platform governance, technical issues, and real-world consequences. These shifts highlight a transition in how human-AI romance is framed-moving from private experiences to technical mediation and regulation-with implications for the design and governance of companion AI systems.

Key facts. Cited by 1 paper in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Builds on 16 of its 94 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 9 Mar 2026.

Builds on

16 of 94 references.

References · 16

  1. 2017Snorkel: Rapid Training Data Creation with Weak Supervisioncited by 372
  2. 2022Sociotechnical Harms of Algorithmic Systems: Scoping a Taxonomy for Harm Reductioncited by 138
  3. 2019The Ethics of AI Ethics -- An Evaluation of Guidelinescited by 129
  4. 2025ELEPHANT: Measuring and understanding social sycophancy in LLMscited by 129
  5. 2024The Dark Side of AI Companionship: A Taxonomy of Harmful Algorithmic Behaviors in Human-AI Relationshipscited by 62
  6. 2025"My Boyfriend is AI": A Computational Analysis of Human-AI Companionship in Reddit's AI Communitycited by 20
  7. 2023Chatbots as social companions: How people perceive consciousness, human likeness, and social health benefits in machinescited by 17
  8. 2025Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narrativescited by 12
  9. 2023Content Moderation on Social Media in the EU: Insights From the DSA Transparency Databasecited by 5
  10. 2025AI-induced sexual harassment: Investigating Contextual Characteristics and User Reactions of Sexual Harassment by a Companion Chatbotcited by 5
  11. 2025AI Will Always Love You: Studying Implicit Biases in Romantic AI Companionscited by 4
  12. 2025The Real Her? Exploring Whether Young Adults Accept Human-AI Lovecited by 3
4 more
  1. 2025Can LLMs Talk 'Sex'? Exploring How AI Models Handle Intimate Conversationscited by 2
  2. 2019On Benjamini-Hochberg procedure applied to mid p-valuescited by 1
  3. 2025`My Dataset of Love': A Preliminary Mixed-Method Exploration of Human-AI Romantic Relationshipscited by 1
  4. 2026Gendered Pathways in AI Companionship: Cross-Community Behavior and Toxicity Patterns on Redditcited by 1

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Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 1.

1 paper.

  1. 2026Me and My Bot: What Users Talk About in AI Companion Communities on Redditcited by 0