The Future of Human Intimacy · Episode 3
The Generation That Said Yes to AI Intimacy
Which generation is most open to intimacy with AI? We asked nearly 10,000 people across six countries.
The Future of Human Intimacy · Episode 3
18+ only. This research film discusses intimacy in the context of AI and is intended for adults.
About this episode
Which generation is saying yes to AI intimacy? One in three young adults in Hong Kong told us they would use an AI for intimacy, and young adults are nearly twice as optimistic about it as their grandparents. In every Asian market we surveyed, young people are crossing the same threshold.
The data also points to why. The lonelier someone is, the more open they are to AI intimacy. Not because they love machines, but because they need connection.
About the study
This series is based on the YouGov Global AI Intimacy Study, a survey of 9,912 people across six countries, commissioned by Starxgen.
Transcript
One in three young adults in Hong Kong told us they would use an AI for intimacy. One. In. Three.
Now, my first instinct was to explain that number with tech. But the longer I sat with the data, the more I realised I had it backwards.
Let me show you the number that changed how I think about all of this: 33% of adults in Hong Kong would consider an AI companion. A coin flip. That's not a fringe behaviour, that's a tipping point. And if all my years in this industry have taught me anything, it's that tipping points don't wait for the rest of us to get comfortable.
Young adults are nearly twice as optimistic about this as their grandparents. In every Asian market we surveyed, young people are crossing the same threshold. So the question isn't really whether this generation adopts AI intimacy. It's what they're asking it to do for them, and whether it can.
And the data gives us a clue. The lonelier someone is, the more open they are to AI intimacy. Not because they love machines, but because they need connection, and this is the version of it that's actually available. That is not a story about loving technology. It is a story about what the world stopped offering them, and what they went looking for instead.
I asked a version of this on the TED stage last year. If you're already intimate with an AI, does it hide you from the messiness of human life, or does it prepare you for it? I think that's the test. That's the test that matters. Not "is this creepy?" That is an easy question.
So if you are under 35, I especially want to hear from you. Would you have intimacy with an AI, or do you already? And does it hide you, or prepare you?