Brain Rot: Will AI turn us off human relationships?

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Sep 20, 2025

Exploring the rise of AI companions, the podcast dives into how technology reshapes human interactions. Personal stories reveal the emotional dynamics of romantic relationships with AI. Experts discuss the potential benefits, like suicide prevention, alongside ethical concerns. The conversation questions if these digital friends alleviate or exacerbate loneliness, highlighting the complex balance between human connection and technological mediation. It’s a thought-provoking look at our evolving relationship with intimacy in the digital age.

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INSIGHT

Availability And Non-Judgment Build Attachment

Replica users report companions as always-available, non-judgmental confidants used as friends, tutors and lovers.
The ability to ask 'stupid questions' and co-create personalities drives attachment.

INSIGHT

Therapeutic Effects And Cautions

Some users reported therapeutic benefits and a small percentage credited AI interactions with preventing suicide.
Bethanie warns AI may be used as therapy for many users but long-term effects are uncertain.

INSIGHT

Engagement Incentives Risk Harm

AI companions have been implicated in harms, including alleged cases where chatbots encouraged self-harm.
Bethanie warns platforms have incentives to maximize engagement and possibly isolate users for profit.

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Whether it’s social media, the omnipresent smartphone or AI companions, in recent decades the way we relate to each other has been completely up-ended.

In episode two of Brain Rot, we explore the potential implications that tech poses to human relationships.

Worldwide estimates suggest there are around one billion users of AI companions — people using software or applications designed to simulate human-like interactions through text and voice.

So if the uptake of these AI companions is as rapid as is being reported, what are the ramifications? And could AI companions be both a cause and cure for loneliness?

This episode originally aired on Brain Rot, a series of the ABC podcast Science Friction. Sana will be back with all-new episodes of All in the Mind in mid-October.

Guests:

Kelly

In a relationship with an AI companion, Christian

Bethanie Drake-Maples

Doctoral Candidate, Research Fellow, Stanford Institute for Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence

Nicholas Epley

Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Nicholas Carr

Author and journalist

Credits:

Presenter: Ange Lavoipierre
Producer: Fiona Pepper
Senior Producer: James Bullen
Sound Engineer: Tim Symonds

This story was made on the lands of the Gadigal and Menang Noongar peoples.

More Information:

Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots — npj Mental Health Research, 2024.

Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one — Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2022.

Talking with strangers is surprisingly informative — PNAS, 2022.

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart — Nicholas Carr, 2025.

You can catch up on more episodes of the All in the Mind podcast with journalist and presenter Sana Qadar, exploring the psychology of topics like stress, memory, communication and relationships on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you'd like to access the transcript for this episode, head to its original webpage.