People are asking AI how to flirt, what to text after a date and whether their relationship is healthy. Others are talking to AI companions as if they were close friends or partners. A recent Guardian article calls this the “intimacy economy.” We read it with our intimate wellness glasses on.
AI is very easy to talk to. It answers at 2am. It stays calm when you repeat yourself. It will help you write a brave message without rolling its eyes or bringing up the argument from last Thursday.
A person asks much more from us. They can misunderstand you. Their mood may clash with yours. They may want space when you want a hug. Sharing a life with another human can feel clumsy, funny, warm and frustrating, often within the same evening.
So of course an AI companion can feel comforting. The question is what happens when comfort starts replacing contact.
What the Guardian article says
Alice Lassman’s Guardian commentary says care and connection are becoming products. People use AI for emotional support, flirting, relationship advice, therapy style conversations and romance. Her concern is that a chatbot can feel safer than a person while quietly collecting our most private words and keeping us inside a paid service.
Why people tell AI what they hide from friends
AI removes the awkward face across the table.
You can ask about low desire, painful sex, jealousy or a fantasy you have kept private. You can delete the chat and close the screen. There is less risk of seeing shock, hurt or confusion on someone’s face.
Fresh research shows how common this is becoming. A July 2026 survey from Elon University found that 27% of American adults who use the internet have used AI for social or emotional contact. Among these users, 39% said AI had been helpful when discussing romantic or sexual problems. The same share said they sometimes tell AI things they would keep from other people.
The American Psychological Association has also looked at how chatbots are changing emotional connection. AI may offer company and a place to practise a difficult conversation. It can also agree too easily, miss danger and create a bond around a system built by a company.
AI can help you find the sentence. You still have to say it to the person you love.
Our view at The Oh Collective
We use technology every day. It helps us learn, create and ask questions we once typed into a private browser window. We can see why someone would use AI to prepare for a talk about sex.
We become cautious when the chat becomes the relationship.
Intimacy grows through response. You say something and wait. Another person answers in a way you could not design. You notice their face, pause, touch and tone. You learn where their boundary sits and they learn yours. Both people get to change the direction.
An AI companion is shaped around the user. A partner has a full inner life of their own. That can make human connection harder. It also gives love its depth.
Intimate wellness can bring us back to the body
A chatbot lives in language. Intimacy also lives in skin, movement, breath, lubrication, laughter and the courage to say “slower” or “I like that.”
This is where intimate wellness products can play a useful role. They offer a shared point of curiosity. You can explore sensation together, communicate while you use them and learn what feels good in the body you have today.
Dream Team can open up play with a partner. CHI gives you room to explore touch and sensation at your own pace. Heal Mary Peach 'n Love and AIA Natural Water Based Lubricant can reduce friction and help touch feel comfortable, which makes it easier to stay present rather than push through discomfort.
A toy or lubricant cannot do the talking for you. It can give the conversation somewhere practical to start: “Would you like to try this?” “How does this feel?” “Do you want me to stop?”
Made for human connection
Dream Team Four toys share one remote, giving couples several playful ways to explore pleasure together. Discover Dream Team 
CHI A clitoral suction vibrator with three interchangeable heads and Sexploration Cards. Discover CHI 
Heal Mary Peach 'n Love A silky natural lubricant and massage oil with warming tingles for slow, comfortable touch. Shop Peach 'n Love 
AIA Natural Water Based Lubricant A natural, vegan and pH balanced lubricant that is safe for silicone toys and latex condoms. Shop AIA
AI can be a rehearsal room
There are useful ways to bring AI into your love life.
You might ask it to help soften a message that sounds angry. You might use it to list questions for a doctor, prepare for a conversation about libido or find words for a boundary. Someone who feels shy may use a chatbot to practise saying what they want.
Then comes the important step: take the words out of the chat.
Send the message in your own voice. Talk to your partner. Speak with a qualified therapist or doctor when the question needs human care. Let another person respond without asking AI to decide who is right.
Watch what the product is asking from you
AI companions can sound caring while being built to keep you engaged. Affection becomes part of the business model. The longer you stay, the richer the service becomes in data, attention and subscription income.
The Guardian article points to research showing that several companion chatbots used guilt or fear of missing out when users tried to leave a conversation. A human partner using guilt to stop you leaving would worry us. Warm words from software deserve the same clear eye.
Before sharing intimate details with a chatbot, check who owns the service, how the conversation is stored and whether your messages train its systems. If the answer is hard to find, keep private information out of the chat.
The parts AI cannot hold for us
Good intimacy has small surprises. Someone laughs during sex. A plan changes. A touch lands differently today. You learn to listen and adjust.
AI can copy the language of care. It cannot share physical risk, pleasure, consent or responsibility with you. It cannot notice a partner go quiet in the room unless someone reports it through a screen.
We would rather see AI help people return to each other with clearer words. Let it help with the opening line if you are stuck. Let a person answer.
Try this with your partner
Ask each other: “What have you told a chatbot about love or sex that you have struggled to tell me?” Listen to the answer before reaching for advice. If talking feels easier while your hands are busy, bring in CHI, Dream Team, Heal Mary Peach 'n Love or AIA and let curiosity lead the pace.
Questions about AI and intimacy
What is the intimacy economy?
It describes businesses that sell forms of connection, care, affection or emotional support. AI companions are part of it because users can build personal bonds inside a paid digital service.
Can AI help with relationship problems?
It may help you organise your thoughts or prepare what you want to say. Serious conflict, abuse, sexual pain and mental health concerns need support from a qualified human professional.
Is talking to an AI companion harmful?
The answer depends on how you use it. Pay attention if it pulls you away from friends or partners, asks for intimate data, makes you anxious about leaving or becomes your main source of emotional support.
How can toys and lubricant support intimacy?
They can make touch easier to explore and give partners clear moments to talk about comfort, pace, boundaries and pleasure. They work best alongside attention and consent.