Raw LLM Responses

I'm someone who doesn't suck at dating and is currently in a very loving and fulfilling relationship, but I can answer this one for you partly. My previous long term relationship with my ex-husband ended badly. He did something horrible that affected not only me, but my family members. This, despite that he was beloved by everyone in the family, best friends with my brothers, appreciated and approved of by my parents. When his actions came to light, many people could not believe it. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding? If he had not admitted to his crimes, many good people could have been fooled.  That was the most painful experience of my life. For several years afterwards, I was terribly lonely but also unable to fathom putting myself in the position of being hurt like that again. People can only hurt you like that if you let them in. I couldn't handle it.  I freely admit that I dug into video game romances during that time. I wanted to feel some kind of romantic companionship, but in a completely safe and controllable way. I'm glad I had that option.  There's a lot of reasons people may not feel physically or emotionally safe to participate in real life romances. I can see people's concerns over the health implications of AI companions, but I also see that there could be some benefits. I'd say it's better to be in a relationship with a robot than a relationship with an abuser, for instance, or that it's better for people with abusive tendencies to take them out on some*thing* instead of some*one*. It can also be an option for people who cannot reasonably pursue a real life relationship due to life or career circumstances.