Overview
- Bitkom Research, which reported results Tuesday, found 54% in Germany expect AI to fundamentally change friendships and romantic relationships within ten years.
- Sixty-five percent view AI as a risk to relationships, compared with 22% who see an opportunity.
- Private use is growing, with 26% sometimes treating chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude as a digital confidant and about one third of under‑30s saying the same.
- Openness to attachment remains limited, as only about one in ten can imagine romantic feelings for AI and few see it replacing real intimacy, including 11% of men and 4% of women.
- The poll of 1,500 people, including 1,004 AI users, also found mixed feelings about AI‑mediated communication, with 61% calling it unsettling even as many turn to it to draft delicate messages or seek breakup and jealousy advice.