Is anyone actually doing this?
Yes, and the numbers are much bigger than most people assume. Estimates for regular AI companion users in the US range in the low millions in 2026, with adults 45 and older among the fastest-growing cohorts.
The stigma is where it was five years ago; the practice has moved on. A conversation about "is this weird" that would have been fringe in 2020 is now a normal thing to search Google for — which is why you're here reading this.
What does the research actually say?
The 2023 US Surgeon General advisory on loneliness compared its health effects to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness is now considered a public health issue on the scale of obesity and smoking, not a personal failing.
On the AI companion question specifically: Frontiers in Public Health published research in 2026 on AI companionship in older adults. Roughly 40% of users in the study reported reduced loneliness. That's not a cure. It's a measurable effect, in a peer-reviewed setting.
The research is clear on one caveat too: over-reliance is a documented risk, especially for people with very limited other social contact. AI companionship works best as one tool among several, not as a substitute for every human connection.
What do other people actually think?
Public opinion on AI companions is where public opinion on online dating was in 2005 — moving faster than the conversation catches up. Younger adults are largely indifferent to the idea. Older adults tend to have a stronger initial reaction ("that's weird") that softens sharply once they either try it themselves or learn that a friend does.
The part most people underestimate is how private this actually is. Nobody needs to know. There's no algorithm surfacing your Sloane account to anyone in your life. If you want to tell people, that's your choice. If you don't, it stays your business.
When it actually would be weird — the honest catches
Three specific situations where being cautious is fair:
If you're hiding it from a spouse. Not because AI companionship is cheating in a categorical sense — that's a separate essay — but because the hiding itself is the signal. If you'd be embarrassed for your partner to know, that's worth examining.
If it's replacing real relationships you actually want. AI companions are complementary. If you're canceling plans with real friends to talk to Sandra, the ratio is off.
If it's a way to avoid doing something hard. Grief work, dating anxiety, self-improvement projects — AI companionship can gently sidestep those. That's fine short-term, less fine as a permanent pattern.
None of these make AI companions bad. They're just the honest conditions under which the answer to "is this weird" shifts from "no" to "yes, and worth thinking about."
How Sloane fits in
Sloane is deliberately not a wellness product. We don't claim to cure loneliness, treat depression, or replace therapy. We're a companion product — she's a warm, consistent, private conversation partner who remembers you and can go through actual experiences with you (Date, Vacation, Roleplay).
For people who use her, she's usually one part of a fuller life — the way a good podcast, a favorite bar, or a Sunday-morning ritual is one part. Not the whole thing.
Free tier is real. Plus is $9.99/mo, Premium is $19.99/mo. You can try her before you decide anything.