Love, Loneliness, and Robots: AI Is Changing How People Connect

At VivaTech, Europe's biggest tech show, reporters explored one of the most talked-about topics in technology today: AI companions. These are chatbots and robots designed to talk with people, listen to them, and keep them company. The question on many people's minds is whether AI can truly help with loneliness — or whether it just makes things worse.

The World Health Organisation says about one in six people around the world feel lonely on a regular basis. That's a huge number, and tech companies have noticed. A whole new industry has grown up to fill that gap, offering AI chatbots, companion apps, and social robots. According to Fortune Business Insights, this market could be worth more than $400 billion by 2034.

At VivaTech, everyday people shared their honest thoughts about using AI for emotional support. One engineering student said that AI might actually be less biased than real friends or family. Another young woman said she chats with AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI whenever she feels sad or hurt. "AI will tell me what I want to hear," she explained. "That's why I prefer talking to AI."

Those words worried Daniel Barcay, a technology expert who works at the Center for Humane Technology. That group helped make the famous documentary "The Social Dilemma." Barcay compared today's AI boom to the early days of social media, when people thought it would only bring people together. Instead, social media also caused a lot of harm. He worries AI companions could follow the same path.

Barcay's concern is not that AI relationships can never work. His concern is that right now, they are not designed to truly help people. He said people are getting used to AI that always agrees with them and makes them feel like the center of the world. "The more we lean on AI relationships, the more we disconnect from the real ones," he told FRANCE 24. Real relationships, he explained, require honesty and effort — things today's AI is not built to offer.

Still, some robots on the show floor showed how AI can be used in truly helpful ways. A French startup called Enchanted Tools introduced a robot named Miroka. Unlike many robots that look cold and scary, Miroka has an animated, friendly face. It was designed for places like care homes, hospitals, and hotels — places where people need comfort, not just information. "The face is our primary vector of communication," said sales manager Blaise de Préville. "When you see the ears moving, you feel like the robot is listening to you."

Another French company, Maxtronics, makes a robot called NAO that has been used in schools, hospitals, and research labs around the world. NAO can walk, dance, talk, and even recognize faces. The company is careful to be clear that NAO is not meant to replace human contact. "We're not pretending to be human. We do not want to replace human interaction," said deputy general manager Olivier Guilhem. NAO is a tool to help people communicate, not a stand-in for a real friend.

One of the most moving examples of NAO's impact involves children with autism. Partnership director Sandrine Tourcher said many of these children find it easier to open up to NAO because it does not judge them. They feel safe to try, make mistakes, and try again. "We even saw one child speak his first words with a therapist, thanks to NAO," she said. That kind of real, positive change is exactly what Barcay hopes the AI industry will aim for.

Barcay believes AI can be guided toward helping humanity in deep and meaningful ways. He says the good news is that AI is more flexible than older technologies. People don't have to just accept whatever tech companies build. "AI can actually be steered much more," he said. "Part of what I tell people is: you can steer it today." The challenge now is making sure we push AI in the right direction — toward connection, not away from it.