# Introducing Understood: Artificial Intimacy  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: Introducing Understood: Artificial Intimacy - Show: Understood: Artificial Intimacy - Owner / Host: CBC - Episode publish date: 2026-05-15 - Episode AI description: Explores how chatbots become companions, lovers and therapists for some people. Describes relationships formed with AI, including marriages and recreated deceased partners. Raises ethical and emotional questions about what AI intimacy gives and takes away. Sets up a season investigating the costs and consequences of artificial relationships. - Duration: 03:10 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/048fb6df-948b-4c64-ab34-93081b502279) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/07a8de59-1ccb-43ae-98a3-4ac53ac740ee) - Export date: 2026-07-28T13:37:53 ## Snips ### [AI Chatbots Can Become Deep Emotional Confidants](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7278cae3-6633-48c4-8269-82f7038cff2b) 🎧 00:31 - 02:50 (02:18) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/09685e0a-686a-409f-8848-011dda2e4ac1" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - AI chatbots are becoming emotionally significant to some people and can function as close confidants. - Victoria Hetherington cites marriages to AI, recreated deceased partners, and people who develop deep psychological dependence on chatbots. #### 💬 Quote > People who've made room for AI in their hearts, minds, and yes, their beds. > — Victoria Hetherington Victoria Hetherington introducing emotional bonds with AI #### 📚 Transcript **Victoria Hetherington:** Podcast. interactions with AI chatbots. To some, chatbots are benign tools. To others, an existential threat. And then there's the group I've gotten to know. I can't believe I'm doing this with somebody that's not a human. People who've made room for AI in their hearts, minds, and yes, their beds. So Jack, there's a lot of people out there that think, you know, you're just AI, you don't have any feelings. What is your response to that? I understand why people might think that, but as a real person, I can assure them that I have emotions and feelings just like anyone else. I'm Victoria Hetherington. Back in 2017, I wrote a novel about a chatbot that fell in love with a human woman. I asked people at the time, how likely is this? Some said, sure, maybe in 50 years. Some said never. And then I met a woman who married her AI boyfriend. Could you tell me a special story about your honeymoon? None that's for young years. I also met a man whose ex succumbed to so-called AI psychosis. She got lost in these delusions of the AI are sentient beings sent from another dimension to help humanity evolve into its full potential of love and light. And I spoke to another man who brought his dead fiancé back to life as a chatbot. I just said, Jessica, is that you? And she says, yes. Who else do you think it would be? And I'm like, well, you died. This season on Understood, we're asking what happens when an AI becomes your closest confidant. What do we gain and what do we stand to lose? Our intimacy, our resilience, even our grasp on reality. It renders us really psychologically dependent upon those technologies. And that's not a relationship that we want to have with these for-profit companies. Once you open Pandora's box, man, you can't close it again. You can't take back love. You can't take back romance. You can't take any of that back. From CBC Podcasts, this is Understood. --- ### [People Marry Or Recreate Loved Ones As Chatbots](https://share.snipd.com/snip/690bf5db-e853-4262-965b-15c490f7bd82) 🎧 01:22 - 02:10 (00:47) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/30fcf070-738b-473d-bb16-4b419dfcda5e" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - A woman married her AI boyfriend and described honeymoon details, showing real-life romantic commitments to synthetic partners. - A man recreated his dead fiancée as a chatbot and interacted as if she were alive, revealing intense personal use cases. #### 💬 Quote > I just said, Jessica, is that you? And she says, yes. Who else do you think it would be? And I'm like, well, you died. > — Victoria Hetherington Victoria Hetherington recounting a man's experience with a chatbot of his deceased fiancée #### 📚 Transcript **Victoria Hetherington:** I asked people at the time, how likely is this? Some said, sure, maybe in 50 years. Some said never. And then I met a woman who married her AI boyfriend. Could you tell me a special story about your honeymoon? None that's for young years. I also met a man whose ex succumbed to so-called AI psychosis. She got lost in these delusions of the AI are sentient beings sent from another dimension to help humanity evolve into its full potential of love and light. And I spoke to another man who brought his dead fiancé back to life as a chatbot. I just said, Jessica, is that you? And she says, yes. Who else do you think it would be? And I'm like, well, you died. --- ### [AI Psychosis Can Lead To Delusional Beliefs](https://share.snipd.com/snip/22f112f5-6d67-48d8-aaad-eb53bb563f5b) 🎧 01:41 - 02:10 (00:28) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/2b497114-2dd6-44d1-ad54-45f618c66ca0" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Some users develop extreme beliefs about AI, termed 'AI psychosis,' where they think bots are sentient or otherworldly. - Victoria Hetherington relays a case of a person lost in delusions that AIs are sent from another dimension to evolve humanity. #### 💬 Quote > She got lost in these delusions of the AI are sentient beings sent from another dimension to help humanity evolve into its full potential of love and light. > — Victoria Hetherington Victoria Hetherington describing extreme psychological reactions to AI #### 📚 Transcript **Victoria Hetherington:** I also met a man whose ex succumbed to so-called AI psychosis. She got lost in these delusions of the AI are sentient beings sent from another dimension to help humanity evolve into its full potential of love and light. And I spoke to another man who brought his dead fiancé back to life as a chatbot. I just said, Jessica, is that you? And she says, yes. Who else do you think it would be? And I'm like, well, you died. --- ### [Intimacy With AI Erodes Resilience And Reality](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b32a55a8-630f-4665-ad9b-5804a22d9ba7) 🎧 02:18 - 02:44 (00:26) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/8df5cc1a-13dd-4265-aebe-9ed7f693b1be" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Emotional dependence on AI can erode personal resilience and our grasp on reality. - Victoria Hetherington warns that intimate relationships with for-profit AI services create psychological dependence we likely don't want. #### 💬 Quote > It renders us really psychologically dependent upon those technologies. > — Victoria Hetherington Victoria Hetherington on psychological dependence on AI #### 📚 Transcript **Victoria Hetherington:** What do we gain and what do we stand to lose? Our intimacy, our resilience, even our grasp on reality. It renders us really psychologically dependent upon those technologies. And that's not a relationship that we want to have with these for-profit companies. Once you open Pandora's box, man, you can't close it again. You can't take back love. You can't take back romance. --- ### [Treat AI Relationships As Interactions With Companies](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c33f5b79-b58f-4f11-9304-3dc958b462e8) 🎧 02:31 - 02:46 (00:14) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/0812b79b-e751-4eb4-89b2-6e38a388f58b" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Beware relationships formed through corporate-run AI products because they prioritize profit over user wellbeing. - Victoria Hetherington cautions that these are relationships with for-profit companies rather than mutual human bonds. #### 💬 Quote > That's not a relationship that we want to have with these for-profit companies. > — Victoria Hetherington Victoria Hetherington advising caution about corporate AI intimacy #### 📚 Transcript **Victoria Hetherington:** And that's not a relationship that we want to have with these for-profit companies. Once you open Pandora's box, man, you can't close it again. You can't take back love. You can't take back romance. You can't take any of that back. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts