Hallo, wie fühlst du dich heute? How AI is changing our relationships.

A former social worker who says a chatbot saved her life during depression. An IT professional who has developed feelings for an AI character and is keeping it secret from his partner. A young woman finding her way out of an eating disorder through conversations with AI.

Millions of people worldwide are confiding their deepest fears, hopes, and secrets to AI systems - seeking comfort, friendship, therapy, sometimes even love. Christoph Koch has spoken with researchers, startup founders, and users, visited care homes with social robots, and tested companion apps himself. Together with Nikolaus Röttger, he explores the stories of people for whom AI has become an emotional counterpart - and asks what this new closeness to machines reveals about our emotional needs and the future of human relationships.

Christoph Koch (b. 1974) is a journalist and non-fiction author. He writes regularly for brand eins, Die Zeit, and SZ-Magazin, often on digitalization, social change, and everyday psychology. His books include the SPIEGEL bestseller "Ich bin dann mal offline, ein Selbstversuch zum Leben ohne Internet" as well as "Die Vermessung meiner Welt" and "Digitale Balance". He lives in Berlin.

Nikolaus Röttger was editor-in-chief of WIRED Germany and moderates conversations about change, coexistence, and optimism. Through his consultancy FutureStory, he helps companies sharpen their narrative during periods of growth, transformation, and crisis.