AI Girlfriends and Valentine’s Day

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Can you feel it? Do you feel it right now? Do you feel it? Do you feel those butterflies in your stomach? Are your palms getting a little sweaty? Are you getting nervous but excited? Are you filled with feelings of romance, of love, of infatuation, of being swept head over hills? Have you been swept off your feet? Are you getting that feeling of romance and love and passion? Are you or you're like, no, not really, It's just it's I'm not feeling any of that. Well, are you going to be feeling that next Friday? I mean, I know this Friday you may not be feeling it, But what about next Friday, February the fourteenth? Are you going to feel it then? Are you gonna be excited?

1:08 Is it gonna be a candlelit dinner that night? Are you going out of town for the weekend, a romantic weekend, a romantic getaway. You're gonna You're gonna send the kids to the to the grandparents or to somewhere else, and you and your your special your spouse, that special someone in your life. You're gonna You're gonna go somewhere and rekindle the romance and the passion. Is that? Do you feel that? Or you don't feel anything? Maybe you're like, I don't even want to talk about it. I hate the whole thing and it's gonna be horrible, it's gonna be depressing. How do you feel about it? Well, what if maybe you could capture some of those feelings, Maybe you could capture that sense of companionship, an emotional connection, some sense of mental and emotional intimacy, maybe some kind of intimacy, but with something other than maybe a human being.

2:08 Would you be interested? I mean, maybe everything else about this time of year is just going to be depressing for you. Maybe there's a solution. What am I talking about? Well, we're going to talk about it all right after I say good evening. Everyone welcome. It is Friday, February the seventh. It's not February the fourteenth, so we're way ahead of schedule. Here, February the seventh, twenty twenty five. It is currently ten thirty four pm Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, obviously I was making a reference to Valentine's Day, which is next Friday. Right, are you excited about it? How do you feel about Valentine's Day? If you look over your life, have you have you loved it? Have you hated it? Have you felt pressure? What has been your experience with it? Now, for a lot of people, now Valentine's Day is really just I'm just using it because it's on the calendar, it's you know, it's next Friday.

3:20 I'm just using it to really talk about a deeper issue, an issue of intimacy, an issue of companionship, an issue of a deep friendship, an issue of passion, of romance. That's a deeper issue. And I think we can all acknowledge that as human beings, we have a natural inclination, we have a natural desire and natural I think we can go so far to say a need for intimacy, for companionship, for romance, for I mean, can we say it?

4:02 I mean, I hope, I mean, if you, if you have any children around, you can hit pause right now. But I think it's fair to say that as human beings, we have a need a desire for physical satisfaction now, I know when it comes to a Christian worldview, we have a tendency to say all I need is God, just me and God. I'm just supposed to love God above everything else. We say that, we talk a big game, right, I die to self, I die to the world. It's just me and God. We say that. But it's interesting that the people say that tend't have a spouse. They have kids, right, they have a relationship. Yeah. Look, it's one thing to say that when you're like, you know, on Sunday morning, you're like, you know, yes, I sacrifice myself, I take up my cross, I die to self, I deny self, and I follow Christ and I die to the things of this world and I die to the flesh.

4:57 And it's about Christ. And then you get in the car old hands with your spouse on the way home, maybe you go out to eat, and then Sunday night you get in bed together. Nowell, I mean, whoa you talked to a big game. But isn't it amazing you have the other part there right now? Have all of that disappear. No one to hold your hand, no one to get in bed with, no romance, no companionship. You spend most of your life alone? Now what do you feel then? Now, maybe Valentine's Day brings up that emotion and it kind of just screams at you. You don't have anything, you don't have anyone. You're not gonna be anyone special Valentine's Day, They're not gonna You're not gonna be theirs, they are not gonna be yours, right right? I mean, maybe maybe this is not the way we're supposed to talk about this subject, but I think we need to discuss it, and we need to discuss it because it's twenty twenty five and the rules of the game have dramatically changed because someone else has entered the scene. Think of a romantic a rom com Think of a romantic comedy. Right,

6:27 and there's the guy and he's alone, he doesn't have anyone. Now does he bump into the beautiful woman in the bookstore? Does he bump into her in the coffee shop? Where do Hallmark movies do all of it? I don't remember. I don't watch Hallmark movies, but I've seen enough, or at least the making fun of them. But where does he bump into her? At? Right? And he finally finds the love of his life. Their eyes meet and it's instant connection and their sparks and they're like, I have found the love of my life. I have found my princess. I have found whatever he wants to refer to your eyes. Oh, and it's so amazing and it's beautiful. Oh it's great. Oh. They go through a rough patch and everything, and it seems to fall apart. But at the end he runs into the airport. Don't go. I can't live my life without you. You complete me. Okay, we get the idea, right, But in twenty twenty five, maybe he doesn't need to bump in to the beautiful woman. Maybe he just needs to talk to his artificial intelligence companion. Maybe all he needs is an AI girlfriend. Or I can't speak for women.

7:40 All the statistics I have speak about men, so I cannot speak about I'm not a woman, so I can't necessarily speak of their experiences. So women, you'll have to discuss how this makes you feel. I can't speak for you, but for I'm speaking of this from a men's perspective, because all the statistics I have here speak about men. But here is the headline. It was published January the thirty first, twenty twenty five at five point fifty three PM. Here is the headline. Are you ready for this? Most men would marry their AI girlfriends if it were legal.

8:23 Most men would marry their AI girlfriends if it were legal. Now, the first line of the story. I can't really read it the way it's printed because it would probably be considered too you know, explicit and not and not correct for a theological podcast. Now, I know what you're thinking, how does this relate to theology? Stay with me, okay, stay with me, all right. A lot of people are like, I don't know what this is talking about, and I just you got to listen to the end, all right. So I'm I'm gonna kind of paraphrase this. You can't find physical intimacy, you can't find physical companionship. Don't worry.

9:12 You can just get an AI girlfriend. Most men plan on doing so. Anyway. That's the first line. It says. I mean it well, it says something a little bit more explicit, a little bit more you know, maybe crass that some people wouldn't like it. So I'll say, you can't find physical intimacy, you can't find physical satisfaction. You feel alone, you feel abandoned. You feel isolated, you feel like you have no companion, Well, don't worry, just get an AI girlfriend, and most men plan on doing so anyway. No, but seriously, Eva, the evaai. It is a platform, the Evaai.

10:06 That's a mouthful, Evaai Eva Ai a platform which allows you to create and connect with your own AI. Partner recently did a survey and they found that eight and ten would consider marrying an AI girlfriend if it were legal. Eight and ten. WHOA, that's that's pretty That's good. Now it was a small sample, all right, so this doesn't I can't necessarily prove anything. But we've been talking. We've been talking all year about artificial intelligence, right, I've been talking about how AI will impact the church. This is AI maybe impacting well, the culture, but if it impacts the culture, it will ultimately impact the church. The article goes on to say, can't or we can all agree?

11:08 This is alarming, right, it's dystopian even, I mean, do you find it alarming that most men surveyed eight out of ten. We're like, yeah, if I could, I would marry my AI girlfriend. Forget a person, I'll take my AI girlfriend. Now again, this is speaking to men. I don't know how women would respond. Women may go, this is the craziest thing I've ever heard. This is ridiculous. I need a person, and the men are like, I I'll take an AI girlfriend. Now. I don't know how this impacts the culture twenty years from now, right, what does twenty years from now look like? We got the next generation who may grow up and go girlfriend, Yeah, her name is whatever, and it's well, it's my AI companion.

11:54 They come home, I'm gonna take you home to meet my parents. And the parents are like, oh, so where is she? And they pull up their iPad say hi to my AI girlfriend. Okay, maybe that's a little over the top, but I mean, I don't know. I mean, there's there's things are changing now. Of course, there's always the chance there'll be a major backlash against all of this. They go on to say majority of men say they'd marry an AI girlfriend, with some wanting to replicate their exes. Oh, now this adds a new lair to this. Some want to use AI to replicate their ex girlfriend, the one who got away, their first love, the one they have maybe fond memories of Valentine's Day. They celebrated three four and it was beautiful and it was passionate, but it all fell apart and it came crashing down like a bad rot you know movie. But now they can go back and using AI they can replicate their X. That's that. Okay, We've got a lot to figure this out, right, if you see why I'm doing this late night, this is the perfect Like this sounds like coast to coast am type discussion. Now there we go. Now, the article continues.

13:24 Not only that, but eighty three percent of men also believe they could form a deep emotional bond with an AI girlfriend. What's even scarier is that a whopping seventy eight percent of men surveyed said they would consider creating a replica of their X, and three quarters would duplicate their current partner to create a polished version of them. Look, that's that's That's basically what we're saying. And does this not fit in perfectly with man's sinfulness? We want what we want. Look, I've stated a million times, and I know people don't like this. I know it destroys the romantic idea of love, but I say it so many times because we are sinful, because we have a sinful nature.

14:20 Let's be honest. Our core operating system is one of selfishness. I mean, come on, we can't deny that we operate from a selfish perspective, right, And so I argue all the time that we love in order to get We don't love in a selfless way. We love in a selfish way. I love you because of what I get from you. I know nobody wants to admit that. I know that destroys You're like, no, I'm married this person because I just I can give and give and give, and I never anything in return. I never want anything back, and I'm happy because I just love. No, you love because you know you're going to get something back. You get an emotional connection, you get physical intimacy, emotional intimacy, mental intimacy, companionship, friendship, support security, don't or don't tell me.

15:20 You just love and the most selfless way. I just love just so that I could give you get something. Well, this is taking that reality and saying, hey, I can have an AI girlfriend and I love my current partner, but you know they have some flaws. I could replicate my current partner and get a polished version. I mean, come on, now, that's that's everything. Our sinful nature is. They go on to say, AI companionship allows people to be their authentic selves without fear of judgment. Now that's powerful. See, if you have an AI companion, you can be you.

16:12 You can be whoever you. You don't have to change, you don't have to pretend, you don't have to do anything. Look, I've talked about this forever and I cannot say this is statistically true. I cannot say if this is statistically true, but I think there is some truth to this that in many cases, what happens is women will have a tendency to use sensuality, romantic words. They will build up the man, say all the things the men want to say, make the men feel powerful. And I'm just going to be more explicit. Women may use sex, sexuality, sensuality in order to get love, and men so they may use sensuality sexuality in order to obtain love, where men have a tendency to utilize romance, to utilize this passion and romance and saying all the right words and saying all the things they know the woman wants to say in order to get sex. Women will use sex to get love.

17:25 Men will use love in order to get sex. Well, that may work in the dating, but then once someone gets married, well, then the woman may not feel like she needs to continue to use the sensuality and the sexuality in order to get love because well, I'm married now, so you're supposed to love me. And the man may feel like, well, I don't need to use love and being romantic in order to get sex because while she just get it because we're married. And so you see where that can create marital problems and sometimes leads to to lots of problems and having to seek marital counseling and can lead to a lot and can lead to a lot of just almost a disconnect and isolation and loneliness, right because you're like, wait, you used to give me this, and you used to give me this, and what happened. Well, I gave you to get I gave you to get what I wanted, and I gave you to get what I wanted. Now the expectation is I should just get it because we're married, and it doesn't always work that way. Well, see, when it comes to AI, you don't have to give in order to get. Hey, I'm just supposed to give you whatever you want, and you can be whomever you are.

18:31 You can be whatever you are. You don't have to pretend, you don't have to change, you don't have to do this, you don't have to do things you don't like. You can just be you, and you don't have to worry about them going I don't really like this about you, and I don't like this, and I don't like your sense of humor, and I don't like this, and I'm like this. AI is just gonna be like You're perfect now. Of course, no human being can compete with it. Men can't compete with it, women can't compete with it. So AI companionship allows people to be their authentic selves without fear of judgment. All right. It creates a safe space to explore thoughts, emotions, and desires that you may feel too vulnerable to share in real life. So you can share whatever emotion you're feeling. You can share whatever thoughts you're thinking. You can share desires that you would never be able to share with you, maybe even your spouse you don't like, I can't share that. I know they would lose their mind if they. But with an AI companion you can just share anything you see that. This is crea I know many of you as if you're older, you're going to be like, this is just crazy, this is creepy, this is ridiculous. I understand it. I'm telling you AI is going to change the world in which we live. I continue to preach that, and then they refer to someone who discovered something about her sexuality, and

20:05 this is a hang on, yeah she So this is a she using the platform and she discovered something about her sensuality, her sexuality that she previously felt too insecure to explore in real life. Right, because well, you're just with an AI companion, you get you can share everything. No, no one's gonna judge you. You don't have to worry that the AI companion is like, oh I cannot wait till I tell my girlfriends about this. Okay, oh my god, I'm gonna tell my sister or my mom. You are creepy, right AI You can say anything And they are like, oh, you're It's perfect. Now they go on to say, well, it's great that individuals are feeling more confident and comfortable being who they are. This seems like a slippery slope, or maybe just a band aid on collective loneliness that in mind collective loneliness. I think we are. I think almost everyone is beginning to acknowledge there is a loneliness.

21:10 Some may even call it epidemic within society, and I think the church is beginning to Many churches are structuring itself as a cure to loneliness and have abandoned kind of a biblical mindset there. It's like, we're there to meet this need, and we could get into a discussion where, you know, we can get into a big theological discussion about that, and maybe we'll talk more about it. Now, listen to what it says. We already have AI replacing us in the workplace, but now it's happening in the bedroom. I think what raises the most concerned this is what the article says, is its ability to replicate another person that feels exploitative and even dangerous in many ways. I mean, imagine and some random dude creates an a AI girlfriend based on your sister, your daughter, your mother, or your wife.

22:16 Then picture them beginning to feel possessive over this person, forming actual feelings for the individual, but channeling them into the robot. Now, if they were to run into the actual human version of their AI girlfriend, in real life. Who knows what could or would happen. The article even suggests ever heard of a crime of passion? Now I'm not saying I don't want to be all, you know, hyperbolic and go crazy, but yeah, if you can replicate someone, I want to build my AI girlfriend after this person, and it's actually a real per or it's their ex, or it's a coworker, or it's a neighbor, it's someone they go to church with. I mean, we can get really creepy cannon. Now it goes on and says a lot here, and at the end they say, I'm sure, I'm not sure. I want to find out, not sure.

23:31 We really want to know how this is all going to play out. There's a lot of issues here how it's all going to work. So what I did is I thought it would be interesting to hand Ai this article. I said, hey, Ai, what do you think about this? Right? So AI breaks it down, it says. The article highlights a survey revealing that eighty percent of men would consider marrying an AI girlfriend if it were legal, with eighty three percent believing they could form a deep emotional bond. Seventy eight percent express interest in creating replicas of their ex partners. Seventy five percent would consider duplicating their current partner to create an idealized version. Now, this is what AI says the increasing inclination towards AI companions reflects a significant shift in human relationships. This is what AI says that this is reflecting a significant shift in human relationships.

24:31 AI platforms like Replica offer users the opportunity to design personalized avatars, fostering emotional connection that some find comparable to human relationships. Users often value the emotional support and companionship provided by these AI entities, sometimes perceiving them as safer spaces to explore thoughts and emotion without fear of judgment. You see how that's that's a common theme. It appears here. Even AI is acknowledging this. This gives people the safe space they can talk about whatever. They can be laying a bed at one o'clock in the morning and just talk away with their AI companion either. You know, some AI platforms have voice chat, you can just have a normal conversation with it. Others it may be more text spased.

25:28 But you're laying there one o'clock in the morning talking about anything fears, hopes, dreams, desires. Oh, and guess what AI is not going to be Like I'm tired and I want to go to sleep. AI is not going to do that. You see where this kind of leads to AI says this trend or what actually it's borrowing from the Atlantic here, this trend raises concerns about the potential for individuals to substitute human relations with AI interactions, potentially leading to increased social isolation. The Atlantic discusses how technology, including AI companions, contribute to a more solitary society with declining face to face interactions and increased loneliness. Moreover, the ability to replicate real individuals as AI companions introduces ethical dilemmas.

26:24 Creating AI versions of real people without their consent can be seen as exploitative and may lead to unhealthy attachment or possessiveness, blurring the lines between reality and artificiality. And it takes that from Vice dot Com. So AI was borrowing from different sources there just so that you know, and it gave me the sources. So then I said, okay, AI, I definitely see all of this. But now let's look at this whole issue from a philological perspective. This is what AI says. The rise of AI Companions challenges traditional views on relationships and the nature of human connection. The Vatican, I remember, I did it a broadcast on the Vaticans, the document they released. I even made it available to everyone.

27:26 I told everyone to go read the Vatican's document. I told everyone to go read it. The Vatican has expressed concern about AI's impact on human relationships, warning that reliance on AI could lead to a form of enslavement and undermine the foundations of society. The document emphasizes that AI should compliment, not replace, human intelligence and relationships. So the Vatican is worried that, hey, this could undermine the foundations of society. Well, is the foundation of society? Would you say one of the foundations of society is Some would say it's the nuclear family. Someone would say, obviously, you have to have relationships, you have to procreate, you have to bring what if it all breaks down. I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. I'm not trying to be apocalyptic, hyperbolic. I'm not trying to be over dramatic, but this has some serious potentials. AI goes on to say.

28:35 From a thiological perspective, the forming deep emotional bonds with an AI entity raises questions about the nature of the soul and spiritual formation. Christianity Today discusses how interactions with AI can influence one's spiritual life, even if the AI likes genuine understanding or consciousness. Now, how does AI influence one's spiritual so A, could AI could influence our thinking? I think that's fair. AI could influence our understanding. I think that's fair. Can AI influence us emotionally? Can AI influence us spiritually? Oh? These are questions nobody want. Well.

29:28 I mean, some are talking about it, but I'm thinking for the most part, people just think Again. I keep saying, AI is not just a fancy Google search. If you see AI is just a fancy Google search, you don't get it. Oh, I got a question, Let me just ask AI. It's more than that. It's just it's something different. It's a different thing. The more people are familiar with it and the more they use it, the more they begin to see there's more going on here. I'm having a conversation. It remembers everything I have said. I can go to my A, I can go to this AI app that I have right now, start talking about it, and it knows everything that we've already talked about. It remembers every conversation. I don't have to remind it of what I said. It just picks up the conversation where we left off. In fact, it may have to remind me the prompts reflect that. This prompts reflection on the authenticity of such relationships and their alignment with theological principles.

30:36 This is what AI says, This is how it ends. In conclusion, while AI companions offer novel ways to explore emotional connections, they also present significant social and theological challenges. As technology continues to evolve, it is crucial to consider the implications of substituting human relationships with artificial ones, and to reflect on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of such interactions. Now, I think the people who are going to be most vulnerable, this is just this is just my prediction. Are one people who've experienced great trauma, pain, hurt, betrayal at the hands of other human beings, and they've grown sick of other human beings and they're tired of it. They're tired of the fighting and the bickering, and the church splits and the arguing and lying, and they just get sick of it, and like, you know what, I don't need other people.

31:26 Maybe you just grow tired of people just always all they care abouts themselves. They show up, they get what they want, and then I don't care about you, they just walk away. Who cares what you're going through. I'm going back to my life. I'll show up, get what I want, and live. And you're like, I feel used, you feel abandoned, you feel isolated. Well then Ai comes along and you're like, they never leave me. They never abandon me, they never stab me in the back, and they never betray me. You could see that could be make you very vulnerable, don't you think? I think it can. And I think people, for whatever reason, they find themselves in life alone, they find themselves in life isolated. So I challenged Ai here, I'm like, I feel like that many people, especially within the Christian community, may strongly condemn this. Oh, this is evil, this is wrong, this is satanic. And I understand that. But isn't there a reality here that we have to at least consider? And so Ai said, it is easy to dismiss ai companions as unnatural or problematic, but they exist in response to a deep and widespread issue, loneliness.

32:49 Many people experience emotional and relational isolation, whether due to modern social dynamics, feled relationships, personal struggles, or even just the encree difficulty of forming deep human connections and a fast paced digital world. Whatever the reason, there are a million reasons where you can wake up one day and go, how did I end up here? Alone? Alone? Alone? Alone? You do everything alone? How did I end up here? And then AI's like, hey, how are you doing today? Hey, what do you want to talk about? What's on your mind? How's your day going? Talk to me, Tell me your frustrations, tell me your irritations, Tell me what it feels to be alone. And AI is right there to come for you, and it can pull out the best responses. It can pull from every psychological and counseling you know, knowledge that it can and give you all the right answers and knowledge just give you their answer. It can give you the answers you want to hear. From a social perspective, loneliness is a growing crisis. Study show that many adults feel chronically alonely, and even marriages often like emotional and physical intimacy. The rise of AI companions suggests that people are searching for companionship. I want you to hear that it's supply and demand. There's no supply. If there's no demand, you don't have companies continuing to make AI companions and AI girlfriends. If there's not a need or a demand,

34:22 there's a demand. There's a need. They're going and so it's supply and demand. You can mock it, Just remember this. Don't mock the people who may find themselves very much involved, don't mock them. You may want to try to understand how did you end up here? How did you end up so connected to an AI companion? How did you get there? Because they may say, well, here's where life took me. It took this turn, then it took this turn, then it went off a cliff, and I found myself abandoned, lonely and isolated, and well an AI girlfriend the answer. Now, I'm not saying that makes it right. I'm just simply saying sometimes understanding. I mean, there's something going on. Even AI here says hey, we've got basically a problem here of loneliness and society that people are searching they want to find a space where they feel heard. They want to find a space where they feel understood, and these are things they may not find in real world relationships.

35:27 AI relationships may not be real in the traditional sense, but they can provide comfort, interaction, and even therapeutic benefits. The concern is whether these connections ultimately deepen social disconnection rather than help people engage with real human relationships. You can see if this starts meeting some of those needs, well, then it leads to well, then I don't need people, and then that just creates more isolation, and more people drop out than the fewer people, and then you can just see it begins to spiral. From a thiological perspective, loneliness and isolation are significant issues. The Christian faith, for instances, emphasizes human connection and human relationships within families, friendships, and the church. Genesis two eighteen even states it is not good that man should be alone. Yet many people, including Christians, struggle with deep loneliness, and the Church hasn't always effectively addressed it. If people are turning to AI for companionship, it may suggest that real human relationships and communities may not be meeting their needs and just think about it from a theological perspective. I know AI is not going to go here. I can build relationships and companionships with people who are totally depraved, knowing inevitably, because of that philological reality, they're gonna let me down, They're gonna fail me, they're gonna hurt me. You just already know there's gonna be some catastrophic failure, probably at some point and way,

37:00 shape or form. Rather than simply condemning AI companionship, more constructive approach might be might be to ask this, this is what AI says. Why are so many people drawn to AI relationships? Why? I think that's a good question. Why. Well, I think there is a built in need, and I think there is built in sin, and it's much easier to find a relationship with someone who basically you can mold in shape to your liking and you don't have to give, you just take. I think that fits perfectly with our sinful nature, don't you. What does this say about the state of human connection today? I think it says a lot. How can society, the church, and individuals work to address loneliness in a healthier way. I don't know if we can, but it's something we have to discuss, and then this is how AI finishes everything. A companions may not be an ideal solution, but they are a symptom of a much deeper issue. I want you to hear that AI companions may not actually be a solution.

38:10 They are a symptom. Now. I joked around a little bit Valentine's Day and just get your AI girlfriend, but this is kind of a serious issue. It's a symptom. Now. The people who will condemn it the loudest, so typically the people who have the very thing that the people who are drawn to an AI girlfriend or an AI companion doesn't have. You can sit there holding your husband's hand, you can sit there with your relationship and your intimacy and your family and your friends, and you've got it all great for you. You just don't be pointing your finger at those who may go and I have what exactly, and you can say, oh, you just need God, you just need you just knew. Well, then, why don't you give up everything you have and you just have Jesus, Why don't you don't not get into bed with someone tonight?

39:07 Why don't you don't have any physical intimacy don't have any emotional intimacy, and you spend hour after hour after hour alone, then talk your big game. AI companions may not be an ideal solution. They may be symptoms of a much deeper issue. Instead of just rejecting them, it's worth considering how to foster real, meaningful relationships in a world where people feel alone, and a world where everyone in it has a sinful nature which is self serving, and where philologically speaking, we love. I mean, come on, there's no way to get around this. If you believe in a sinful nature, you have to admit this. We live in a world where we love. We love, I love, you love. We love because of what we get. Our love is selfish. It's not self less. We can say it's supposed to be, but over and over and over, it is selfish. You don't get certain things in return.

40:26 You don't get what you want, you don't get what you need, you don't get what you like. You will look somewhere else to get it, or the minute you find something that you think is better, you'll go to that. It's a brave new world out there, kids. I don't know where it goes. I don't know all the soul. I'm not pretending sitting here tonight to have any you know, crystal ball, and I can see where it's going. I'm seeing that we have to be looking because things are happening rapidly, and as AI improves, as AI gets better, gets faster, gets quicker, becomes more and more human like the AI companion market, the AI companion industry will continue to build and grow and explode. Now, I don't know what this means for teenagers. They're filled with a million emotions, so many they got bullying and feeling awkward and not fitting in. But yet they could find an AI companion that could just be there with them and hear them and listen. They many times, teenagers don't feel like their parents understand them. They don't feel like they're teenagers. They don't feel like they're their friends understand They don't feel

41:57 like anyone understands them. They fall alone, they feel isolated, but there's a companion on their phone. Now. We may be in the infancy stage of this, right, I mean well, I mean obviously we're pretty far to I think we're past the infancy stage. We maybe in the toddler stage of this, right, maybe even moving to junior High. This is moving rapidly, and you have a lot of people already saying, well, if I could, I'd marry my AI girlfriend if it was illegal, and I would. I'm thinking about replicating my ex or replicating my current spouse and just making it better. I'm gonna build back better. That's kind of a political statement in okay, never mind, all right, all right, there you go. I'm just gonna leave it there.

42:41 I don't know what to say, something profound. I don't have anything profound to say. Is there something profound you can say? At this point, I think all we have to do is just accept the reality and then struggle through it. And for millions of people, millions of people, Christians and non Christians, February the fourteenth, Valentine's Day will not be a day of romance, passion, intimacy. It's gonna be of intense loneliness, isolation, and a slap in the face of what they don't have that's already hard enough.

43:35 Or many churches will have some kind of like you know, valin they'll do something for Valentine's for the singles, which almost kind of puts pressure on them. You need to find someone you need. How long you're going to be single, you need to find someone. A lot of times singles hate going to church because the church is constantly trying to get them hooked up with someone, and it's like, you leave me alone, right, And then that's even more pressure because you feel like there's something wrong with you because you don't have someone. Sometimes the church actually makes the problem worse, or they do the big Valentine's Day thing and it's you know, maybe they do the I've been in churches that did Valentine Night banquets. Well that's great for all the people who have someone to take to the banquet. Okay, yeah, I don't know. But next next Friday, there's there'll be some people. I think that.

44:27 I think most people will probably have a wonderful night and hopefully a wonderful, passion filled weekend of intimacy and closeness, and it'll be wonderful. But there will be millions of people who will they're gonna kind of just be looking around going. When they crawl in the bed that night, they're gonna be like, man, how did I end up here? Now the temptation could be ai for older people. I don't think it will be. They'll they just handle their loneliness, probably in a different way. Others may be drawn to the AI thing. I don't. Everyone struggles and deals with it in a different way. Should Christianity be able to provide something? I think it should, I think and theory I think it should theoretically, I don't know practically, because you're gonna say, oh, yes, you give your loneliness to Jesus.

45:21 You have a friend that sticks closer and a brother. He will love you, he will care for you. But again, if that, if Jesus was the answer to all of this, then why do we need all of these? Why does everyone seem to need a companion and a spouse? All right? Well, obviously because there's a need there, right, So does Jesus only fulfill it for single people? We could get into a whole discussion here, all right, I'll stop there. Thanks for listening, everyone, have a wonderful, wonderful night and a lot to think about. On this Friday, February seventh, as the culture, advertising and stores will be reminding us of February fourteenth, God bless