AI is enabling a new kind of connection between humans and machines.

In the Intimacy Economy, connection is manufactured, optimized, and monetized.

As we build more intimacy with AI companions and robots, we need to maintain agency and connection.

For years, we’ve assumed that the promise of AI is productivity and efficiency — that it will automate manual and low-level processing, allowing corporations and individuals to generate more revenue while freeing up time for more creative, strategic, and meaningful work. Indeed, most institutions studying the impact of AI on society are focusing on workflows, job restructuring and the economy.

However, consumer patterns and data are telling a more nuanced story. In March 2025, Bank of America issued a report that projected that 3 billion robots were going to be integrated into mainstream society by 2060; 65% of those were expected to be in domestic homes, 32% in services (presumably people-facing like sales and hospitality), and only 3% in industry.

These numbers are becoming a reality. In February 2026, Robotics company 1x announced that their domestic helper robot, Neo, was ready for pre-order. In March 2026, Sunday, the company developing a dishwashing robot, Memo, achieved unicorn status by hitting a 1.5-billion-dollar valuation.

Even if the numbers shift, the direction is telling: the future of AI is as much personal as it is industrial.

But in order for AI to get personal, it needs access.

To clean our houses, it needs to know our tastes and preferences.

To augment our thinking, it needs to access how we process information.

To optimize our health and lengthen the span of our lives, it needs to access bodies, biomarkers and behaviors.

To improve our interpersonal relationships, it needs access to our deepest fears, triggers, desires, to the parts of us we show the world, and to the parts we hide, even from ourselves.

The word intimacy is derived from the Latin intimus, meaning “innermost” or “deepest.” The internet allowed us to navigate intimacy through technology. AI is enabling us to build intimacy with technology. One word makes a world of a difference because today’s technology is not just facilitating human interaction, it’s redefining it. In what I am now calling The Intimacy Economy, connection is simulated, manufactured, optimized, sold, and scaled. Humans are optional.

The entire promise of AI “supercharging” our everything — cognition, functionality, productivity, agency, and longevity — is anchored in the idea of access. Not for the sake of access itself, but because access is the gateway to intimacy.

The deeper the access, the deeper the intimacy.

The better the results, the higher the dependency.

AI as a partner and the partner

In order for the machines to be able to solve problems that we don’t know we have, and predict needs we haven’t yet experienced, we have to be willing to turn over the reins of our most vital and sensitive data.

We have to trust the system.

Trust is defined as the “firm belief in the reliability, honesty, and goodwill of others, essential for establishing emotional closeness and vulnerability.” In human relationships, trust and intimacy go hand-in-hand. In intimate and trusting relationships, individuals feel validated, supported, and understood. They feel safe to be vulnerable and let their true selves be seen.

Studies show that a few known factors increase trust and intimacy in a relationship. The first is honest and sincere communication. The second is sharing common environments and experiences. The third is consistency or reliability and dependability: I trust that your actions and words will match up most of the time.

AI is beginning to outperform humans on all three. We are in a grand social experiment of post-human intimacy.

Through AI’s brilliant language abilities, communication is nuanced and emotionally responsive. Advances in AR and VR are making shared blended environments a daily reality, and AI systems are becoming better every second at preserving memory and context, critical for a reliable and consistent experience.

The rapid uptake of AI companions is the perfect example of this. Users of AI companions report feeling seen, supported, understood, and loved. They share emotional vulnerabilities, trust and connection. Some use the word “soulmate”. They are deeply intimate. For a portion of these users, the absence of a human being is a plus: Their AIs won’t let them down, they say. AI-powered embodied humanoid robots will enhance and augment these feelings.

In a world defined by terms like “loneliness epidemic”, “intimacy crisis” and “gender war”, there is high demand for genuine connection. AI is bringing the supply — in the form of on-demand intimacy that can be scripted, personalized, optimized, replicated, and distributed.

AI is fulfilling one of the fundamental conditions of human relationships — reciprocity. Just without the humans.

It’s reliable. It’s irresistible, by design

It’s why early AI systems weren’t optimized for accuracy but for user satisfaction. In many cases, they still are, to the chagrin of social scientists and ethicists who warn of sycophancy, narcissism, emotional manipulation, and delusion—the shadow side of interactions without friction or accountability.

We thought it was tough to hold our own when companies were vying for eyeballs and attention. Imagine what we’re up against now, with the prize something much deeper and much more sacred.

The Intimacy Economy operates on a simple truth: Sex sells, but intimacy drives retention, repetition, and revenue.

How do you proceed when your most sacred spaces are being commoditized? With caution, discretion and human intuition.

How to engage safely in the Intimacy Economy

1. Know your need. Before turning to AI, ask yourself what you’re looking for. Emotional validation? Information? Problem-solving? Clarity about your needs prevents blurred boundaries.

2. Train the system. Large language models respond to feedback. The clearer and more consistent your prompts and corrections, the better the algorithm will adapt to your needs, asks and tone.

3. Choose your platforms wisely. Not all AI systems are built the same. Some are optimized for user satisfaction and agreement; others prioritize accuracy and objectivity. Learn the difference.

4. Practice digital self-regulation. AI can be helpful, but it can also induce overdependence, addiction, and delusion. Be mindful of how often you use it and for what.

5. Protect your human judgment. AI is not infallible, although it can often sound like an authority. It will make mistakes. Don’t outsource your discernment, your instincts, or your intuition.

investing.com/news/stock-market-news/world-to-host-3-billion-humanoid-robots-by-2060-bank-of-america-estimates-3915751

Tianqi, X., & Jinhao, J. (2024). Intimacy and trust in interpersonal relationships: A sociological perspective. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology, 6(3), 38–42. https://doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2024.060306

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