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Love, Intimacy and Connection in the Age of AI | Bryony Cole | TED

Relationships were never meant to be efficient, says sextech expert Bryony Cole, and yet AI companions are increasingly designed to be exactly that. As intimate relationships between humans and AI become more common, Cole challenges us to think more deliberately about how we shape our connections to machines — and with each other. (This conversation,…

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Relationships were never meant to be efficient, says sextech expert Bryony Cole, and yet AI companions are increasingly designed to be exactly that. As intimate relationships between humans and AI become more common, Cole challenges us to think more deliberately about how we shape our connections to machines — and with each other. (This conversation, hosted by TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.) (Recorded at TED Membership on February 5, 2026)

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5 Comments

  1. @zoiemoore907

    May 17, 2026 at 11:51 am

    Using ai to replace human connection is playing God….and it is dangerous….Jesus loves you, don’t get caught up in this trap ..God will send you your husband/wife and He will give you children on His divine timing❤️‍🔥

  2. @zenmaster-x2b

    May 17, 2026 at 2:07 pm

    I’ve learnt alot from the conversation and I’ve seen how we are actually getting into AI relationships and they are becoming dangerous if not controlled. This can lead to weak and machine-based relationships. I’m Lewis from Kenya 👏👏

  3. @kaiftherapy

    May 17, 2026 at 3:40 pm

    Yes it’s definitely affect our contact. Just the fact that the presentation is read through teleprompter. Just humans with their mistakes are more interesting to me personally

  4. @EuphxTrombone

    May 17, 2026 at 5:05 pm

    What a cooked conversation.

  5. @emiliozeron5310

    May 17, 2026 at 6:36 pm

    Bro, this is straight out of Black Mirror

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