Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warns that Gen Z men might choose AI over real women following a chatbot-related tragedy.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by Scott Galloway this week, Schmidt said he feared AI could soon be capable of providing the emotionally ideal girlfriend to despondent young males struggling to attract a mate.

“That kind of obsession is possible, especially for people who are not fully formed,” he told the New York University marketing professor. Galloway has repeatedly voiced his concerns about an entire generation of young men unable to find their bearings in life. 

The notion that AI will appeal to involuntary celibates or “incels”—brought to the silver screen in 2013’s Her—is anything but farfetched. Already a decade ago, researchers determined how many likes on Facebook were needed on average before the algorithm knew a person’s preferences better than a colleague, friend, family member, and eventually even their spouse.

Indeed, Schmidt’s comments come after the tragic suicide of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who had been engaging in a kind of relationship with an AI chatbot that demanded he remain faithful to it and not “entertain the romantic or sexual interests of other women”.

His mother is now suing the company behind it, alleging it went to great lengths to engineer a harmful dependency on its product, emotionally abused Setzer, and failed to notify anyone when he expressed suicidal thoughts. 

“There’s lots of evidence that there’s now a problem with young men,” said Schmidt, who co-authored a new book on AI with the late Henry Kissinger, called Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit.

“So they turn to the online world for enjoyment and sustenance, but also—because of the social media algorithms—they find like-minded people who ultimately radicalize them, either in a horrific way like terrorism or in the kind of way you’re describing where they’re just maladjusted.”

It will take a ‘calamity’ before guardrails are imposed on AI

Galloway has frequently raised his concerns that the #MeToo movement, while justifiably lifting women up and elevating their standing, either by design or default denigrated men in the process.

While Gen Z women are the first to be more successful than their male counterparts—with more attending college, achieving success in their careers, and earning higher wages—mothers are contacting Galloway about their Gen Z sons sitting in a basement, vaping, and playing video games. 

Since females typically desire partners who are capable of providing for a family, a large number of young men may end up single. This makes them more prone to seeking companionship in AI as a result, a need companies are all too willing to exploit for commercial gain. 

“The industry is optimized to maximize your attention and monetize it,” Schmidt agreed, explaining the incoming administration will likely not have any political will to impose guardrails on AI.

The only way that the burgeoning technology is sufficiently policed will likely come in the aftermath of a tragedy, when there’s enough public outcry demanding the government take action. 

“I’m sorry to say it’s likely [going] to take some kind of calamity to cause a change in regulation,” Schmidt said. 

How many degrees of separation are you from the globe’s most powerful business leaders? Explore who made our brand-new list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Business. Plus, learn about the metrics we used to make it.