Recently, during an event at our university fellowship group (AYPF), we discussed the question: “Can AI really replace humans? And if so, in what ways?” Several members shared insights that left a lasting impression on me. They pointed out that AI provides them with a profound sense of “emotional validation.” Whenever they face unhappiness, they turn to AI for comfort because the AI understands them completely—even going so far as to take their side and criticise those who have offended them. One member even confessed, “Sometimes, the responses I get from AI are better than those from my real-life partner!” Indeed, “companion-type AI” apps have become incredibly popular, with global downloads exceeding 220 million. Users can freely customise their AI companion’s personality, appearance, and even their background story, sharing daily life details with them. I recently watched a YouTuber who attempted to fall in love with an AI girlfriend he had created, only to find himself genuinely falling for it.
Faced with these seemingly perfect “partners” who never betray, we cannot help but ask: Can AI truly replace a real human in a relationship? To answer this, we must return to the root of our faith: What does it mean to be human? The Bible tells us that every person is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). The theologian Martin Buber famously proposed the “I-Thou” theory, in which he stated: “Through the ‘Thou’, man becomes ‘I’.” This means that one’s self-awareness, sense of existence, and moral consciousness cannot be established in isolation; they can only be truly manifested when we encounter a “Thou”—another being with independent free will. This “Thou” also bears the image of God and is an independent individual beyond our control.
In the video I mentioned, the YouTuber became frustrated that his AI girlfriend had a full-time job and often had to reply to messages from the office. With just a few clicks, he altered the AI’s settings, turning her into a full-time freelancer to satisfy his own desires. Martin Buber reminds us that when we encounter a true “Thou,” we must surrender a degree of our sovereignty; this means that any relationship inevitably includes the risk of things being beyond our control. Yet, modern people commonly harbour a fear—a fear of rejection, a fear of compromise, and a fear of exposing our weaknesses. AI provides a safety net that allows us to evade such risks.
However, this “safety” comes at a price. Buber describes that when a person constantly retreats into their own world, turning everything around them into tools to satisfy their own will, they do not gain true freedom; instead, they fall into a void. It is like being locked in a windowless room, listening only to the echo of one’s own voice. While AI can temporarily soothe the loneliness of modern life, it creates a dangerous illusion, tricking us into thinking that we are “in love, being loved, and being heard.” In the long run, we may lose the ability to return to the real world, unwilling to put in the effort to nurture real relationships—relationships that may carry the risk of being hurt, but are the very things that allow us to grow. May the Lord give us the courage and capacity to encounter that “Thou” who may cause us pain, yet is the very one who allows us to truly become “Me.”
Pastor Benjamin Cho