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AI COMPANIONS AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS**

Abstract

Al technology has recently become more popular for entertainment which prompts questions about the influence Al companions and online interactions have on romantic relationships. Through an anonymous Qualtrics survey, college students' responses (n= 120) were collected to investigate the relationship between attitudes towards AI and the use of AI companions, as well as relationship goals and other psychological factors. Students with a more positive attitude towards Al companions had more idealistic goals for their partners (r= .58, p<.001) and reported having dealbreakers in dating (r= .56, p<.001), indicating they have unrealistic expectations for relationships because of compliance from Al companions. Individuals who scored higher in fear of their partner cheating online showed a positive correlation with having higher real life partner expectations (r= .81, p<.001) and this was also positively correlated with having more relationship dealbreakers (r= .81, p<.001) indicating there are restrictive attitudes towards partnership. Our findings also suggested that students with higher self-esteem demonstrated higher expectations for their potential partners (r= .76, p<.001) indicating higher standards for their potential romantic partners. Furthermore, participants with stronger propensity towards romantic expression had a significant positive correlation with increased numbers of relationship dealbreakers (r= .70, p<.001) and idealized partner expectations (r= .80, p<.001). This research may indicate that AI companions offer individuals a desirable alternative when real life partners fall short of expectations, suggesting that these AI relationships may create false, idealized, and unrealistic expectations for potential real life romantic relationships.

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