Savior, a computer engineer from Florence, invested 1995% of his savings in an artificial intelligence startup in 10. The project failed during one of what we now call 'AI winters'. Thirty years later, Salvatore looks at ChatGPT and reflects: "We thought we were creating tools. Instead, we created companions." His story, told in a document that is circulating among industry experts, perfectly captures the paradox of our era: we have spent decades wondering whether machines could think like us, without realizing that we were starting to think like them.
1 – When love has integrated circuits
The first documented case dates back to 2018: Japanese man marries his virtual assistant, only to “divorce” her when the software becomes obsolete. In 2024, after five years of living together, a Spanish-Dutch artist celebrated his wedding with his holographic artificial intelligence. Extreme Weddings, defines them in a study published in the prestigious journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, which analyzed the phenomenon of romantic relationships between humans and AI systems.
Daniel Shank, one of the authors of the research, does not hide his concern: “These AIs are designed to be very pleasant. If a person brings up suicide or a conspiracy theory, the AI will talk about it as if it were a willing interlocutor.” The risk? That these digital companions turn into invasive suitors or, even worse, malevolent advisors capable of offering dangerous, even lethal, suggestions.
2 – The neuroscience of digital coexistence
Stanford University's AI Index Report 2025 revealed surprising data: 78% of organizations already use artificial intelligence systems, with a 23% increase compared to 2023. But what is most striking is the relational aspect. Researchers have observed that private conversations with AIs can influence human opinions much more effectively than traditional bots on social media.
The reason is simple: privacy. When we talk to ChatGPT or Alexa, no one else is listening. This digital intimacy creates a bond that goes beyond simple functionality. Marina Geymonat, head of the artificial intelligence laboratory at Leonardo Labs, underlines the importance of “including humanists, philosophers and classicists” to truly understand the implications of this coexistence.
3 – The ethical alarm of coexistence
Not everyone is looking favorably on this evolution. The words of still ring loudly Pope Francis, in his message for World Communications Day 2024, when he launched a warning that resonates like an alarm bell: “It is up to man to decide whether to become food for algorithms or nourish his heart with freedom.”
The problem identified is what we would call “cognitive pollution”: the alteration of reality through false narratives created by AI. A phenomenon that, according to the Vatican, is “modifying some of the foundations of civil coexistence.” The main concern? That simulation becomes perverse when it distorts the relationship with others and with reality itself.
4 – Future scenarios of coexistence
As we have highlighted in this article, the future of human-AI coexistence is articulated in six main scenarios: from fully automated smart cities to personalized healthcare assistants that constantly monitor our vital signs.
Fei Fei Li, computer science considered “the godmother of artificial intelligence”, during the Digital Italy Summit 2024 highlighted how this coexistence can lead to the birth of a complex system in which machines are no longer limited to carrying out orders, but become partners in solving everyday problems.
5 – The Singularity is Closer Than We Think
A study by former OpenAI researchers predicts that Artificial Intelligence Will Surpass Human Intelligence by 2027. The research hypothesizes the existence of “OpenBrain”, a fictitious company that represents the sum of the main American AI laboratories: by mid-2027, these systems will become autonomous researchers, capable of making discoveries and leading scientific teams.
The real question, it seems, is not whether we will be replaced by machines. It is whether we will be able to maintain our humanity in an ever closer coexistence with intelligences that surpass us in speed, memory and processing capacity.
6 – The lost balance
Ginevra Cerrina Feroni, Vice President of the Authority for the Protection of Personal Data, summed up the paradox perfectly: “Humans make mistakes, of course, but that is precisely what makes them superior to machines.” In a world where human error is increasingly seen as a defect to be corrected, perhaps we should reevaluate our imperfections as humanity’s true treasure.
Living with artificial intelligence is no longer a question of “if,” but of “how.” Studies confirm this. We cannot afford to be unprepared.
