They're probably completely serious. We've seen multiple stories about people getting into deep relationships with AIs and being driven to delusion and insanity by them.
Human connection can be difficult and dangerous, and a lot of people are deeply antisocial or fearful of interaction. Many peoples' primary means of communication was already through the abstraction of the internet before AI came along and a whole generation lost years of potential social development time to lockdowns.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that people connect with AI more deeply than they do to real people. AI is almost perfectly designed to encourage parasocial relationships.
Human connection can be difficult and dangerous, and a lot of people are deeply antisocial or fearful of interaction. Many peoples' primary means of communication was already through the abstraction of the internet before AI came along and a whole generation lost years of potential social development time to lockdowns.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that people connect with AI more deeply than they do to real people. AI is almost perfectly designed to encourage parasocial relationships.