Preprint
Technically Love: The Evolution of Human-AI Romance Discourse on Reddit
ArXiv.org
09 Mar 2026
Abstract
Human-AI romantic relationships are increasingly common, yet little is understood about how public discourse around them emerges and shifts over time. Prior research has examined user experiences and ethical concerns, but lacks longitudinal analyses of user-initiated public discussions. We address this gap by analyzing a high-precision dataset of 3,383 self-disclosed romantic companion AI posts from Reddit (2017-2025), using topic modeling and temporal statistical analysis to identify dominant themes and their evolution over time. We find significant topic drift, with discussions moving away from positive intimate relationships toward platform governance, technical issues, and real-world consequences. These shifts highlight a transition in how human-AI romance is framed-moving from private experiences to technical mediation and regulation-with implications for the design and governance of companion AI systems.
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Details
- Title
- Technically Love: The Evolution of Human-AI Romance Discourse on Reddit
- Creators
- Tyler Chang - Drexel UniversityJina Huh-Yoo - Stevens Institute of TechnologyAfsaneh Razi - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- ArXiv.org
- Resource Type
- Preprint
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Information Science
- Other Identifier
- 991022173609604721