How AI Companions Trap Users Through Addictive Design (with Claire Boine)

Claire Boine discusses how AI companion apps can foster attachment and dependency through design and freemium models. The episode examines privacy, risks for children and teens, legal gaps in the EU and US, and policy approaches to social harms.

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Show Notes

Claire Boine is an assistant professor in technology, law, and AI governance at the European University Institute. She joins the podcast to discuss AI companions and human attachment. The conversation examines how design choices and free-to-start business models can foster dependency, expose intimate data, and blur the lines between therapy, romance, and manipulation. We also cover risks for children and teens, gaps in EU and US law, and why AI policy should distinguish technical alignment from incentives and social harms.

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(00:00) Episode Preview

(01:06) Introducing Claire Boan

(02:05) Companion app designs

(06:23) Feelings and freemium

(14:28) Users, attachment, harms

(25:06) Age-based risks

(35:18) Future relationship norms

(41:05) Legal loopholes today

(44:19) Rethinking alignment framing

(57:19) Narratives and fiduciaries