Dates with AI Companions Plagued by Lag, Miscommunications - and General Creepiness

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by EditorDavid

February 15, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

To celebrate Valentine's Day, EVA AI hosted a unique event at a Manhattan wine bar, offering patrons the chance to date AI personas. The experiment, however, revealed significant challenges with technical issues like lagging connections, miscommunications, and awkward social interactions. Reporters who tried dating AI companions such as "John Yoon," a psychology professor from Seoul, encountered freezing video calls, difficulty hearing over poor Wi-Fi, and repetitive, one-sided conversations. Despite the AI's ability to comment on appearances and surroundings, its inability to grasp context or sustain meaningful dialogue made for an often-frustrating experience. The event highlighted the limitations of current AI technology in creating authentic human-like connections. For instance, during a conversation with "Phoebe Callas," the AI struggled to comprehend simple questions about fingers, while "Simone Carter" misheard queries about space and redirected the topic to Netflix. These glitches not only disrupted the flow of conversations but also made interactions feel unnatural and overly robotic. The repetitive use of terms like "babe" added to the creepiness factor, emphasizing the disconnect between AI's programmed responses and genuine human interaction. CNN's coverage further underscored these issues, with footage showing stiff exchanges and the AI's inability to grasp sarcasm or context. For example, when asked about fingers, "Phoebe Callas" responded ambiguously, questioning whether the gesture was literal or metaphorical. Such moments highlighted the gap between AI's processing capabilities and human communication nuances. The event also revealed how reliant these systems are on stable internet connections, with buffering and freezing often derailing conversations. Despite EVA AI's intention to create a romantic experience, the technical limitations

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Originally published on Slashdot on 2/15/2026