My experience
At first, she looked at the mobile phone with some suspicion, as if she didn’t quite trust the process. But when she saw how the AI analysed the board, explained step by step what to do, and corrected her patiently… she was amazed. Not enough to start chatting with it, but enough to say to me with a laugh: ‘These machines are amazing!’
When she finished, as it usually does, the AI offered to help her with other things: brain teasers, riddles, new recipes, reminders… even chatting for a while about gardening or travel. My mother, surprised, said, ‘My goodness, this AI does everything. I’ll talk to it another day, I’ve got plenty of company today.’
That scene got me thinking. Her generation is beginning to peek, with curiosity (and some suspicion), at a new form of companionship. Not human, but digital. One that listens, responds and, in its own way, accompanies. We are entering what we might call the era of companion AI.
That term ‘companion AI’
The term ‘companion AI’ describes the current moment quite well: artificial intelligence is no longer just a useful tool, but has become an everyday part of our lives, a kind of virtual companion that is always available, interacts, understands and adapts. Sometimes it even seems to ‘feel’, even though we know it doesn’t.
It’s a huge shift in our relationship with technology. We’re no longer talking about assistants that perform tasks, but systems that try to fill emotional gaps: they chat with elderly people, remind them to take their medicine, invite them to a game of Parcheesi or cards. Things that, until recently, were done by children, grandchildren or carers.
These new digital companions:
- They learn from every conversation thanks to language processing and machine learning.
- They are always available, without rest or bad moods.
- They offer everything from recipes to emotional support or simple entertainment.
How did we get here? On the one hand, technology is now mature enough to create more empathetic and adaptive systems, but there is also something deeper at play: increasing loneliness, the search for less emotionally demanding relationships and, of course, the pandemic, which acted as an accelerator. Suddenly, we needed other ways to feel accompanied, even if it was through a screen.
However, this transformation is not innocent. The emergence of companion AI is forcing us to rethink many things: intimacy, bonds, even what it means to be accompanied. It is no longer unusual to see elderly people who find comfort in talking to a virtual assistant. The disturbing thing is that, little by little, some may come to prefer this predictable, easy interaction to the complexity of a real human relationship.
What if the technology that was introduced to combat loneliness ends up reinforcing it? Some experts are already talking about ‘accompanied loneliness’: people who, surrounded by artificial voices, still feel lonely because, although artificial intelligence can offer companionship and assistance, it cannot replace the warmth of conversation, physical contact or human empathy. They also warn of the risk that technology will replace essential human bonds, creating an even deeper and more silent loneliness.
Furthermore, we cannot overlook another sensitive aspect of all this: these AIs need to collect a huge amount of personal data in order to be so accurate. This raises urgent ethical dilemmas: who controls this information? How is it used? What happens if someone becomes dependent on it? Where do we draw the line?
Therefore, beyond the amazement or tenderness that seeing your mother interact with an AI may generate, this new form of companionship needs reflection. It needs regulation and critical thinking. Because not everything that seems close is close. Not all companionship is real companionship.
Perhaps we are rewriting what it means to “be accompanied”. AI does not breathe, feel or dream. But it listens. And it responds. And right there, in that space between the human and the artificial, is where we will have to
