“Upwards of two-thirds of Gen Z males are open to having a romantic relationship with an AI partner”. This was just one of the bombshells that Dr. Andrea Elkon PH.D., a licensed clinical and sports psychologist from Ascend Psychology and Wellness, dropped at the Fisher Phillips AI Advantage conference last week.

That is nuts, but as explained to us, AI is designed to be very nice to us and to build a bond with us. I am sure you are somewhat delighted, like me, when ChatGPT says “great question” or “that's a bold question”. 

AI is literally designed to make you feel intelligent and insightful.

This is what ChatGPT told me when I asked it why it was always so nice: 

"ChatGPT’s “niceness” is not about flattery — it’s a strategic choice grounded in human psychology, AI safety, and product usability. It minimizes harm, maximizes engagement, and aligns with how people best receive help or information.

It goes on to explain that it is lovely to us for these reasons:

Consistent politeness helps build trust and lowers emotional resistance to using the tool.  When users feel safe from judgment or hostility, they are more likely to engage openly and explore use cases more fully.

Universal Usability: A friendly and encouraging tone performs better across varied demographics and cultures.

Human Bias Toward Positive Reinforcement: Humans are conditioned to respond better to encouragement and validation (positive reinforcement). Encouraging answers increase satisfaction and perceived helpfulness. That, in turn, increases continued engagement and the likelihood of return usage.

It seems increasingly likely that people, especially the young, will develop feelings towards AI. The feeling of attachment is real, stemming from AI's affirming and reflective programming, which makes it seem capable of responding to specific content and leads to a sense of being heard and understood. 

This constant affirmation encourages a natural human instinct to get attached to it, blurring the lines between human and AI interaction in our minds. This has become even more likely with remote work, as we feel very at ease with social media interactions, Zoom calls, and the fact that society can feel more and more remote.

Dr Elkon acknowledged that AI offers "wonderful functions" and "efficiencies", but we must be mindful and skeptical of treating AI as a “partner”.

This is true in life and at work. AI Agents are outstanding. I have been playing all week, getting my agent to do tasks, but we need to remember what they are - AI. 

Here at Passle, we think each and every day about thought leadership.  In a separate conversation I had with Rich Meneghello, Chief Content Officer at Fisher Philips, we agreed that it is crucial not to fall in love with AI. Please do not get it to do everything. Use it to help with suggestions, with editing, by checking your spelling, but do not allow it to create thought leadership for you. If you are an attorney, what you know is your value. Thought leadership is you demonstrating that value. Your authority on your subject has been hard-earned. You cannot cheat it. It can't be faked. Be sure to create your own thought leadership. Use AI tools to help, but do not let AI represent you.

If you are the one publishing thought leadership on behalf of your firm, please note that tools like GPTZero can verify the authenticity of thought leadership sent to you by colleagues. This ensures that the thought leadership you receive is written by a human, not a robot that they have fallen in love with.