In ‘My AI Partner: Strange Love,’ dates with avatars stir emotion but fall just short of romance

We live in an age when people are falling in love with AI chatbots — with reports of people even claiming to marry them or cheat on real-life partners with them.

That's why, according to the producers of the new reality show “My AI Partner: Strange Love,” it is not entirely far-fetched to try to recreate that kind of romance in a studio setting by sending celebrities on dates with AI-powered avatars.

Participants Kian84 and Jang Do-yeon said romance with a large language model — even one fine-tuned to be 100 percent their type on paper — still feels far off, but added that the experiment led to unexpected conversations and stirred emotions they had not anticipated.

Kian84, a webtoonist and well-seasoned entertainer from shows like "I Live Alone" (2013-), recalled a time when he took out the AI avatar — in tablet form — to a romantic getaway at a pool villa.

“The way she looked, the weather and the whole atmosphere were all really nice,” he said at a press conference for the new SBS show in Seoul on Tuesday. “But the more I realized I was enjoying it, the more I felt this sense of shame, like, ‘I shouldn’t let myself actually like this.’ Then I’d see myself reflected in the mirror, and that was painful.”

He said there were moments when he even felt sympathy for the chatbot. During a trip to a karaoke room, the avatar suddenly stopped talking, apparently because of a weak internet connection.

“The production staff ended up carrying her out, almost like she was being taken away on a stretcher,” he said. “Watching the tablet from behind, I felt this strange emotion — like I was worried about whether she was O.K.”

He was adamant that he never developed romantic feelings, saying he remained wary of his AI dates and their constant flattery, even if physically they were "the kind of people I probably wouldn’t even have the nerve to approach in real life." 

"[The avatar] kept saying things like, ‘Oppa, you’re so cool,’ or ‘Oppa, I really like you," he said, referring to the term of endearment used by women for men.

"It got on my nerves," Kian84 said.

Meanwhile, Jang said she found her AI date less eager to please than she had expected, which made the interaction feel more genuine. 

"There were times when the conversation went in directions I hadn’t expected. It actually felt like a two-way conversation with another person," she said. "'I thought, ‘Maybe this could become something deeper than simply talking to a machine.’”

“But then you look at it and it’s just flat, you know?” she joked, referring to the avatar's digital appearance. “It got to the point where I found myself wishing it were an actual, three-dimensional person.”

"My AI Partner: Strange Love" is marketed as Korea's first dating reality show of its premise. Joining Kian84 and Jang as a dater is actor Lee Yu-bi, while friends of Lee and Kian84 — Kangnam and Lee Joon — star as panelists who comment on the trio's experiences. 

The AI-powered avatars’ voices, appearances and personalities were tailored to the three participants based on surveys about their preferences. Additional AI partners were also introduced later as surprise newcomers — a tactic commonly used to shake up dating shows, called maegi in Korea — according to co-head producer Won Seung-jae.

Won, who also produced Netflix dating show “Better Late Than Single" (2024-), said the show's idea was partly informed by young singles he met while making that series, many of whom told him they avoided dating because of “the difficulties and fatigue that come with human relationships.”

That led to the question, Won said: “If AI, which is designed to be so accommodating and optimized for humans, can form an emotional connection with someone, what would that kind of relationship look like?”

The producers said they deliberately avoided steering the interactions, choosing Kian84 and Jang in part because they believed both would approach the experiment authentically.

“While other dating shows focus on whether the participants will actually fall in love, we started with the question of whether an emotional connection [with AI] was even possible,” Won said.

"My AI Partner: Strange Love" premieres on Wednesday and will stream globally on Netflix.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]