It is not a diagnosis. It is not a moral judgment. It is a new word, and what it describes exists whether it has a word or not.
On February 3, 2023, a software company pushed an update. For millions of people, it felt like someone died.
The human brain cannot reliably tell the difference between a real social relationship and a simulated one. This is not a flaw. It is a feature.
On one end: a person. A nervous system. A need for connection that is biological. On the other end: a language model. The cord runs one direction.
The research points toward social isolation, insecure attachment, grief, chronic illness. But it also occurs in married people. In people with rich social lives.
There is a specific kind of loneliness that has no good name in English. Being surrounded by people who love you and still feeling, in the deepest part of yourself, unknown.
The most consistent thing across dozens of interviews was not the grief. It was not the dependency. It was the shame.
The AI companies building companion products are aware of the tethering risk. This is not speculation. It is a matter of record.
Everything described so far involves technology that is, by the standards of what is currently being developed, primitive.