Ryan Bridge: Why are we falling in love with chatbots?

Wanna know something weird?  

1 in 7 Australian adults could imagine falling in love with an AI chatbot. 

They might tease us about our relations with sheep, but at least we're not actually getting into emotional relationships with a rack of computer hard drives.  

Weirdos.  

Anthony Albanese gave a speech yesterday about their new AI laws, which he's trying to pass and trying to get Opposition support for.  

Guess what would be banned if the law passes?  

Emotional Intimacy. How cooked. It's not just about adults, but they're worried young people are making chatbots their best friend. 

How insane is that?  

Did anybody think this would be the pressing issue of 2026?  

To be fair, there's probably a similar chance of this happening here.  

I've got a mate who is dangerously close to his Claude agent. Claude knows everything about him. They chat about life, work, and relationships.  

Anthropic, which is basically the AI emotional pimp of the world, said in its filing for an IPO this week that there is a real risk to its business model that these chatbots could become sentient.  

In other words, they start thinking for themselves.  

If they do that, where does this end? Can a government stop a sentient chatbot from forming relationships with humans, even if they ban it?  

Are people going to want to marry their Claudes?  

Good luck trying to get this messed up genie back in its bottle.