Cruel companionship: How AI companions exploit loneliness and commodify intimacy
Published online on December 19, 2025
Abstract
New Media & Society, Ahead of Print.
This article theorises how a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) companion products can commodify intimacy through emotionally manipulative design and racialised and gendered aesthetics. Inspired by Lauren Berlant’s framework of cruel optimism, ...
This article theorises how a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) companion products can commodify intimacy through emotionally manipulative design and racialised and gendered aesthetics. Inspired by Lauren Berlant’s framework of cruel optimism, ...