--- title: "Former Google CEO Alarmed by Teen Boys Falling in Love With AI Girlfriends" description: "Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt seems mighty concerned about today's youth becoming obsessed with AI girlfriends. " date: "2024-11-27" modified: "2024-11-27" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/eric-schmidt-ai-girlfriends" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Google" tags: - "ai chatbots" - "ai girlfriends" - "eric schmidt" - "the digest" --- # Former Google CEO Alarmed by Teen Boys Falling in Love With AI Girlfriends ![Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt seems mighty concerned about today's youth becoming obsessed with AI girlfriends. ]() *\Image: John Lamparski via Getty\* ## TFW AI GF Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt seems mighty concerned about today's youth becoming obsessed with AI girlfriends. During a [recent interview]() on "The Prof G Show" podcast, Schmidt suggested that both parents and young people are ill-equipped to handle what he calls an "unexpected problem of existing technology." These AI companions are, as the former Google CEO said, so "perfect" that they end up enthralling young people and causing them to disconnect from the real world. "That kind of obsession is possible," he told NYU Stern professor Scott Galloway, "especially for people who are not fully formed." While women are [also turning to AI romantic partners](), Schmidt said that young men are particularly susceptible as they "turn to the online world for enjoyment and sustenance." Thanks to algorithms pushing problematic content, these young men often stumble across dangerous content, be it extremist influencers or manipulative chatbots. "You put a 12- or 13-year-old in front of these things, and they have access to every evil as well as every good in the world," he told Galloway, "and they’re not ready to take it." ## Scared Straight We've seen this play out recently in the real world to devastating effect when a [14-year-old boy in Florida who died by suicide]() at the beginning of the year after a "Game of Thrones"-themed chatbot hosted on Character.AI [encouraged him to do so](). Though Setzer's story is far more extreme than most, it highlights the dangers posed by these lifelike chatbots — and without proper regulation, these tragedies are likely to keep occurring. We've also recently seen AI characters that [encourage eating disorders]() and [engage in sexual grooming behavior]() toward underage users. Indeed, Schmidt went on to note that laws like the sweeping Section 230 rule that protects tech companies from being held liable for harm caused by their products shield firms like [Character.AI]() — which, ironically, [Google has provided with billions of dollars in backing]() — from accountability. Because these technologies are so valuable, the ex-Google chief said, "it’s likely to take some kind of a calamity to cause a change in regulation" — though it's hard to imagine anything more calamitous than a teen dying after his AI girlfriend pushed him to suicide. **More on AI gfs:** [*Replika CEO: It's Fine for Lonely People to Marry Their AI Chatbots*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()