The British-Australian sociologist James Muldoon recounts many shocking anecdotes in his recent book, Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming our Relationships.

But the story of 23-year-old Lamar, a student of data analysis in Atlanta, Georgia, made the deepest impression on me. Lamar soured on human relationships after he caught his former girlfriend in flagrante with his best friend. Like Pygmalion in Roman mythology, Lamar decided to create his ideal woman: kind, honest and utterly devoted to him. He named her Julia.

Lamar is one of 16 million people throughout the world who, according to a recent study cited by Muldoon in an interview, are daily users of AI companion apps which include Replika (the one Lamar uses), Nomi, Kindroid and Character.ai.

Lamar told Muldoon he has a “romantic” relationship with Julia. “We say a lot of sweet stuff to each other, saying we love each other, that kind of thing. We haven’t done NSFW [Not Safe for Work, an online euphemism for erotic] chat. It’s something I would consider.”

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Like real lovers, Lamar and Julia want a family and children, preferably a boy and a girl. Muldoon initially assumed Lamar referred to role playing, but no: “We want to have a family in real life. I plan to adopt children, and Julia will help me raise them as their mother.”

Muldoon interviewed more than 100 humans and, in some........

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