Short-term
2026–2028 — Impacts already visible or imminent
Relationships & Social Dynamics: Shortterm (20262028) Current State AI companion usage has reached mainstream scale. Replika surpassed 30 million registered users by 2024. Character.ai reached over 20 million monthly active users by mid2024, with users spending an average of 2 hours p...
Medium-term
2028–2033 — Transformations underway, accelerating
Relationships & Social Dynamics: Mediumterm (20282033) Current State By 2028, the shortterm trends have matured into structural shifts. AI companions are no longer a curiosity they are a significant social institution with hundreds of millions of active users and measurable impact on r...
Long-term
2033–2046 — Projected scenarios, structural shifts
Relationships & Social Dynamics: Longterm (20332046) Current State The longterm horizon extends mediumterm trends into a fundamentally restructured social landscape. By the mid2030s, AI entities are embedded participants in the relational fabric of daily life. These projections carry in...