Synthetic lovers: A framework for understanding artificial intimacy

Abstract

This paper explores the evolving landscape of artificial intimacy through the ‘Synthetic Lovers’ framework, a tripartite sociological model comprising digital, synthetic, and virtual intimacy. By analyzing contemporary case studies – ranging from emotional entanglement with large language models to ceremonial weddings with AI personas – I argue that these relationships are not mere technological anomalies but symptoms of a broader transformation in the social organization of intimacy. The framework integrates theoretical pillars such as parasocial interaction, the anthropological theory of animism, and the political economy of platformization. Key cultural mechanisms, including the ‘male gaze’, the ‘Eliza effect’, and the ‘Proteus effect’, are examined to understand how desire and personhood are remediated in digital environments. The study suggests that the affective bonds formed with AI systems may represent what we tentatively term a historically situated ‘anthropological mutation’, suggesting the need for a rigorous sociological engagement that moves beyond traditional hierarchies of authenticity to address how digital reconfiguration transforms human subjectivity and social bonds in the twenty-first century.