This article doesn't quite thread the needle. First it reports regular AI poll statistics, none of which support the thesis alone.
> The findings make stark reading: eight in 10 boys (85 per cent) have had a conversation with a chatbot, with 43 per cent saying they talk to bots so they can ask questions without feeling embarrassed. More than a quarter (26 per cent) say they like the attention and connection over real-life equivalents, and (36 per cent) admitted that they prefer speaking to AI chatbots rather than to their family and friends at times.
Next it waves at chatbot apps such as Character.AI without connecting them to the poll results besides "this app is popular" and general opposite sex attraction.
Then it goes into some examples and case studies, without providing evidence that it has generalized to the demographic at large.
"New research has revealed that one in five boys aged 12-16 is either in or knows of a boy their age who is in a romantic relationship with an AI companion."
"Almost one in 10 (9% of) boys aged 12-16 years old have used AI to create sexual images of their friends, with 5% admitting to using AI to create sexual images of family members, according to Male Allies research."
edit: can't find the original report the articles are based on, here is older report, but it doesn't cover romantic relationships with AI companion
This article doesn't quite thread the needle. First it reports regular AI poll statistics, none of which support the thesis alone.
> The findings make stark reading: eight in 10 boys (85 per cent) have had a conversation with a chatbot, with 43 per cent saying they talk to bots so they can ask questions without feeling embarrassed. More than a quarter (26 per cent) say they like the attention and connection over real-life equivalents, and (36 per cent) admitted that they prefer speaking to AI chatbots rather than to their family and friends at times.
Next it waves at chatbot apps such as Character.AI without connecting them to the poll results besides "this app is popular" and general opposite sex attraction.
Then it goes into some examples and case studies, without providing evidence that it has generalized to the demographic at large.
"New research has revealed that one in five boys aged 12-16 is either in or knows of a boy their age who is in a romantic relationship with an AI companion."
"Almost one in 10 (9% of) boys aged 12-16 years old have used AI to create sexual images of their friends, with 5% admitting to using AI to create sexual images of family members, according to Male Allies research."
edit: can't find the original report the articles are based on, here is older report, but it doesn't cover romantic relationships with AI companion
https://www.maleallies.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Male...
so I guess they didn't release publically the new one