Post-Humanistic Love

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into everyday life has extended beyond functional assistance into the intimate domains of emotion, companionship, and love. AI chatbots and virtual companions are increasingly engaged as emotional confidants, romantic partners, and sources of care, prompting a re-evaluation of how intimacy is constituted and experienced in a technologically mediated society. This Element examines the emergence of what is termed post-humanistic love, defined as a profound emotional and romantic attachment formed between humans and artificial agents. Drawing on sociological and philosophical theories of intimacy, love, and post-humanism, the Element explores how AI interfaces reconfigure classical conceptions of love, as well as contemporary understandings of emotional reflexivity, distant intimacy and emotional labour. Empirically, the study analyses first-person accounts describing romantic and emotionally significant relationships with AI companions. The findings highlight both the affective potency and the ethical fragility of AI-mediated intimacy in the post-human condition.