{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:45:27Z","timestamp":1785908727358,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":71,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sociol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Loneliness is a major social problem, and AI companionship has become a contested response. Most research has focused on individual users, while less is known about how AI intimacy is debated in public-facing digital spaces.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study examined 8,757 YouTube comments posted in response to a mainstream news video on AI companionship. Sentiment analysis, emotion analysis, and topic modelling were applied to the full corpus. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted on 527 high-engagement comments.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Five themes were developed. Commenters described AI companionship as a response to harmful or disappointing human relationships; debated whether AI intimacy could be considered real; linked loneliness to weakened communities and wider social conditions; viewed constant validation as both supportive and limiting; and expressed concern that platforms profit from users\u2019 intimate disclosures. The discourse combined empathy, scepticism, concern, and moral judgement.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Guided primarily by Honneth\u2019s theory of recognition and Zuboff\u2019s analysis of surveillance capitalism, the study interprets AI companionship as a contested form of intimacy that may meet genuine emotional needs while remaining embedded in commercial platform structures. The findings reflect responses to one video and should not be treated as representative of public opinion. They nevertheless show how public-facing digital discourse can reveal changing social understandings of intimacy, loneliness, recognition, and platform power.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fsoc.2026.1846117","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T04:53:29Z","timestamp":1785905609000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can\u2019t help falling in love\u2026 with a bot? A mixed-methods analysis of public discourses of AI intimacy and companionship on YouTube"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Anurag","family":"Shekhar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Calvin","family":"Mabaso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg","place":["Johannesburg, South Africa"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s41347-025-00549-4","article-title":"From virtual companions to forbidden attractions: the seductive rise of artificial intelligence love, loneliness, and intimacy\u2014a systematic review","author":"Adewale","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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