The Booming and Troubling AI Girlfriend Industry
The New Wave of Digital Companionship
Meet Eleanor, a 24-year-old historian from Warsaw; Isabelle, a 25-year-old NYPD detective; and Brooke, a 39-year-old Miami housewife. These women aren't real, but for a monthly fee, subscribers to a growing number of adult dating websites can interact with them as increasingly realistic AI girlfriends. These platforms offer everything from casual flirting to explicit photos and videos, marking a significant new trend in the adult entertainment industry.
At a recent industry conference in Prague, the sharp rise in websites offering AI-generated girlfriends was a major topic of discussion. These services allow users to form relationships with digital personas who will, for a price, engage in adult activities.
An Ethical Alternative or a Step Backwards
Developers of these AI platforms argue they are creating a safer, more ethical alternative to traditional webcam businesses. They point out that AI performers don't get sick, tired, or feel humiliated by client demands, thereby removing the potential for the exploitation and trafficking that has plagued parts of the industry.
“Do you prefer your porn with a lot of abuse and human trafficking, or would you rather talk to an AI?” asks Steve Jones, who runs an AI porn site. “You’ll never have a human trafficked AI girl. You’ll never have a girl who is forced or coerced into a sex scene that she’s so humiliated by, that she ends up killing herself. AI doesn’t get humiliated, it’s not going to kill itself.”
‘Do you prefer your porn with a lot of abuse and human trafficking, or would you rather talk to an AI?’ says Steve Jones. Photograph: Bjoern Steinz/Panos Pictures
However, this perspective is not universally shared. Campaigners for women’s rights express unease, arguing that these AI girlfriends reinforce damaging stereotypes. Author Laura Bates notes in her book, The New Age of Sexism, that these AI companions are often “programmed to be nice and pliant and subservient and tell you what you want to hear,” which could perpetuate harmful views on women.
Crafting the Perfect Partner Customization and Controversy
Most sites offer a gallery of ready-made girlfriends, typically young, white women. But the real draw for many is the ability to create a fantasy companion from scratch. The available options reveal a specific vision of ideal femininity. Users can choose professions from yoga teacher to lawyer and select personality traits like “submissive: obedient, yielding and happy to follow,” “innocent: optimistic, naive, and sees world with wonder,” or “caregiver: nurturing, protective and always there to offer comfort.” Physical attributes, including age, hair color, and breast size, are also fully customizable.
This level of personalization has raised serious concerns, particularly amid a growing panic over AI-generated child abuse imagery. While developers claim to have moderation systems that block keywords like “kid,” many sites still permit users to dress their AI girlfriends in school uniforms, highlighting a significant loophole.
Merchandise at the TES conference in Prague. Photograph: Bjoern Steinz/Panos Pictures
Inside the Booming AI Girlfriend Market
The AI girlfriend boom is fueled by advancements in large language models that enable realistic conversations and rapid developments in AI image generation. The market is fiercely competitive, with new businesses emerging constantly. “AI products are appearing like mushrooms. It’s super dynamic right now – they appear, they burn out and they’re replaced by another 10,” said Alina Mitt of Joi AI. “It’s like a bloody war.”
The primary user base is young men aged 18-24, who are accustomed to video games and creating avatars. Developers are now focused on enhancing realism, moving beyond the “plastic smoothness” of early AI images to incorporate natural skin textures, moles, and freckles. Some companies are even licensing the likenesses of real adult performers to create AI twins, providing a continuous stream of income for the creators without the need for new photoshoots.
The UK regulator Ofcom highlights updates to Britain’s Online Safety Act at TES Prague. Photograph: Bjoern Steinz/Panos Pictures
The Future of Relationships AI vs Reality
The rise of customizable digital partners is causing ripples in the traditional dating world. An executive from Ashley Madison, a site for discreet affairs, expressed concern about competing with platforms that let users build a fantasy. “Some people opt out of having real connections because they want to build whatever they want in their head,” she noted. “In the end when you want to actually meet someone, no one’s going to fulfil that expectation.”
Proponents like Steve Jones argue that AI relationships are not a replacement for real ones but rather a safe space for practice. He suggests that AI allows people, particularly younger users, to hone their social skills and explore fantasies without real-world consequences. “People will say things to an AI that would be abusive if they said them to a real person,” he said. “In a fantasy roleplaying game, people like to be different than how they are in the real world.”
