Culture | Technology and society

Sycophantic AI is changing the world of romance and dating

A robot kisses a woman’s ankle, with red hearts around them.
Illustration: Carolina Moscoso

Romance novels, it seems, got it wrong. For 250 years romantic novelists have created romantic heroes—and most were what you could charitably call hard work. Mr Darcy brooded; Mr Rochester smouldered; Heathcliff hit his head against a tree and shouted for Cathy, his love. Women accepted this. But then they didn’t have ChatGPT.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Smarm and Servility”

From the March 7th 2026 edition

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Baseball's most infamous "error card," of Bill Ripken in 1989, with an obscenity visible on the bottom of his bat, at Heritage Auctions.