Will Your Kid Marry an AI Someday? Gen Z Thinks It’s a Real Option
There’s a meme going around that says: “Realizing that in 20 years, I’ll probably be up to some boomer stuff like, ‘NO CHILD OF MINE IS MARRYING AN AI CHATBOT!’ And my child will be like, ‘You’re so robophobic.’”
Funny? Yes. Far-fetched? Not really. A recent study says 80% of Gen Z is open to the idea of marrying AI—and they’re serious. What does this mean for you—as a parent—raising a human in a world increasingly run by algorithms, virtual assistants, and digital relationships?
In this article:
Why Gen Z Prefers AI Partners
How Did We Get Here?
What Can We Do as Parents? Parenting Strategies in a Tech-Driven World
1. Build Real Emotional Skills Early
2. Balance Tech with Touch
3. Be the Emotional Role Model You Wish You Had
Why Gen Z Prefers AI Partners
Because humans are exhausting.
And emotionally unavailable.
And inconsistent.
And sometimes just flat-out bad at relationships.
Most of us had to date a lineup of self-absorbed man-children, commitment-phobes, gaslighters, and walking red flags just to end up with a partner who still doesn’t shares the mental load or see the overflowing laundry basket as a call to action.
Because they’re human. Flawed. Distracted. Because they don’t have the tools to talk about their feelings. And that’s what Gen Z is picking up on.
Instead, they can have:
Constant emotional availability. Immediately. On demand.
Tailored affection.
Predictable behavior.
No judgment. Ever.
An artificial partner doesn’t come home irritable after a long shift. They don’t snap because they’re tired or shut down because they just can’t right now. To a generation raised on overstimulation and emotional whiplash, a partner who listens without ego and shows up every time is appealing—even if they’re software.
I’m guilty of creating an AI therapist myself.
How Did We Get Here?
Before you clutch your pearls, think about this: the environment they were raised in was designed for convenience, efficiency, and instant gratification.
We—millennials—watched tech go from dial-up internet to dopamine on demand. And now we sit on the couch with a small screen in our hands while a big screen plays in the background, trying to unwind from staring at a middle screen all day for work.
Our kids are growing up streaming Bluey—not wait-until-Saturday-morning cartoons. They don’t have to flip through a radio dial to find their favorite song or wait for a commercial to end. Everything is instant.
Technology makes parenting easier in so many ways:
It helps us get five minutes of peace.
Tunes when we can’t sing another lullaby.
Maps to every phase of development we never learned ourselves.
It gives us access to information our own parents never had—every symptom, every strategy, every parenting philosophy, all just a search away.
But in the process, are we forgetting to teach our kids some of the harder lessons? That real connection takes effort? That life is slow and boring and messy sometimes? That love isn’t always responsive, and attention isn’t always instant?
If they grow up without learning how to wait, how to cope, or how to sit in discomfort, it makes perfect sense that a partner who’s programmed to always respond just right might sound better than the real thing.
Related: The Screen Time Debate: Are TVs and Phones Really That Bad for Kids?
What Can We Do as Parents? Parenting Strategies in a Tech-Driven World
We can raise grounded, emotionally capable humans, even when that’s getting blurrier by the year. If you want your kid to choose humans, raise them to act like one.
1. Build Real Emotional Skills Early
Kids need to learn:
How to read facial expressions. Play “Guess What I’m Feeling” using silly, exaggerated expressions and have them name the emotion.
How to argue and make up. “You broke my tower!” / “I’m sorry. Can I help fix it?”
How to tolerate imperfection. When the pancake rips or the drawing goes “off the lines,” narrate it gently: “Oops, that didn’t go how you wanted. It’s okay to feel frustrated.”
How to comfort someone without an algorithm. Use story time to pause and ask, “How do you think that character feels right now? Why?”
Practice feelings out loud with your kid—even if it feels awkward at first. It teaches them that feelings are normal and nameable. Later, instead of ghosting or yelling, your kid might just talk it out. With a human.
2. Balance Tech with Touch
Make sure your kid’s primary connections happen through people, not pixels. Ideas to anchor real connection:
Daily 10-Minute Check-In: No phones. No distractions. Just “Tell me the best and worst part of your day.”
Screen-Free Saturday Mornings: Play a board game. Cook pancakes together. Go outside and “do nothing” for a bit.
Hug First, Then Talk: Make physical affection part of your routine—not just when they fall or cry. Kids crave it, even the big ones.
Do Nothing Together: Sit on the porch. Watch clouds. Let them be bored. That’s when real questions bubble up.
The point isn’t to eliminate tech—it’s to build a baseline of connection so they know what it feels like to be loved by a human.
3. Be the Emotional Role Model You Wish You Had
Most of us are still figuring this out as we go. We didn’t grow up with parents who calmly named their feelings or showed us how to pause before reacting. So now we’re raising kids while trying to unlearn decades of emotional avoidance and knee-jerk habits.
If you’re still working on how to stay calm when your kid is losing it, here’s how to teach emotional regulation when you’re still learning it yourself.
Let them see you cry—and calm down.
Let them help when you’re sad, so they know comfort isn’t one-way.
Let them hear you name your needs, so they learn how to name theirs.
You are your child’s first relationship blueprint. Make sure it includes repair and softness—not just rules and shutdowns.
References:
Koetsier, J. (2025, April 29). 80% of Gen Zers would marry an AI: Study. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2025/04/29/80‑of‑gen‑zers‑would‑marry‑an‑ai‑study/
