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50M+ People Are Dating AI Agents. AI Love or AI Fearmongering?
03 Aug 2026
Dinis Guarda - Citiesabc - AI.DNA - Humans + Cities + AI Soul Convergence - Newsletter #28
citiesabc.com with Businessabc.net intelligenthq.com wisdomia.ai
Dear Friends
What happens when intelligence no longer competes for our attention, but for our affection?
The next frontier of artificial intelligence is not simply about building smarter models or more capable autonomous agents. It is about creating systems that understand, respond to, and increasingly participate in our emotional lives. More than 50 million people are already forming meaningful relationships with AI companions, while a new generation of Emotional AI is transforming healthcare, education, customer experience, enterprise software, and digital identity by making empathy, trust, and human emotion measurable computational interfaces.
Together, these two developments signal something far bigger than another technology trend. They point towards the emergence of what we call The Feelings Economy—an era in which emotional intelligence becomes an economic resource, emotional data becomes digital infrastructure, and the quality of our relationships with machines may become as strategically important as our relationships with other people.
This week's edition explores both sides of this transformation: our editorial on AI Love, examining why millions are turning to AI for companionship, and our latest research, The Feelings Economy, investigating how Emotional AI is redefining intelligence, trust, and the evolving interface between humans, machines, and autonomous AI agents.
As AI agents and algorithms learn to understand us better than we understand ourselves, will we still recognise where humanity ends and the algorithm begins?
Editorial highlight
From companionship to connection, AI companions are becoming part of real lives and real hearts. This is one of the biggest topics for the future of humanity and AI frontier model development. There is no doubt we will have increasing love for AI and also AI fear mongering. What will be the impact of AI Love on our fabric of humanity DNA?
→ Explore the full article in Wisdomia: https://wisdomia.ai/ai-love-50-million-people-are-dating-ai-agents
Our Weekly Research
How is Emotional AI redefining intelligence, trust, and the next interface between humans, machines, and AI agents? From healthcare and customer service to AI companions, emotions are becoming a new layer of intelligence and economic value. But can machines truly understand how we feel, or only predict behavioural signals?
The future of the Feelings Economy will depend on trust, privacy, regulation and scientific accuracy.
→ Read more about the research by Pallavi Singal in IntelligentHQ: https://www.intelligenthq.com/the-feelings-economy-the-us1-2-trillion-business-of-human-emotion/
Featured Personalities interviews in Dinis Guarda Citiesabc Businessabc IntelligentHQ Show
How can one entrepreneur build and operate a company with AI? Ben Cera explores autonomous AI agents, business automation, lessons from failure, the 80/20 rule and how Polsia is helping founders build AI-powered companies that operate around the clock. Watch the interview.
Erald Ghoos – CEO of OKX Europe
How are crypto, DeFi and tokenisation reshaping the future of finance? Erald Ghoos explores the evolution of digital assets, European regulation, decentralised exchanges, AI-powered trading and OKX’s growing role in the global financial ecosystem. Watch the interview
Katey Lockwood – Leadership Coach and Author
In this episode of Finding Your Atom, a podcast series hosted by artist and designer Amrita Sen and author and Dinis Guarda, Katey Lockwood explores workplace burnout, rest, mindfulness and self-awareness. Together, they discuss how coaching, philosophy and spirituality can help us find peace and wellbeing during turbulent times. Watch the interview.
AI Tools Worth Your Attention
Presented by: Manus AI My Computer
Autonomous AI Agents for Digital Work
What if AI could execute tasks, not just generate answers? Manus AI is building autonomous AI agents that can research, plan, navigate tools, and complete complex workflows with minimal human input. Designed for professionals and enterprises, the platform represents the shift from AI assistants to AI operators.
A look at how agentic AI is redefining productivity, automation, and human-AI collaboration.
→ Watch more in my Instagram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE2yw7fkleo
Presented by: Emergent
What if building software no longer required coding, just ideas?
Emergent AI is turning that into reality, with over 6 million users, 7M+ apps created, and a jump to $100M in revenue in under a year. At the same time, a new wave of AI startups is pushing even further, coordinating thousands of AI agents to solve complex problems and reshape entire industries.
This is not just faster development; it’s a shift in who gets to build, create and innovate.
→ Watch more in my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWyz1txip_K/
Our Weekly Industry highlights
Google DeepMind Unveils Gemini Robotics 2, Its First Whole-Body AI System for Humanoid Robots - Pallavi Singal
Google Vids has introduced Gemini Omni and personal AI avatars, allowing users to generate and edit high-quality videos through everyday language. The update also lets verified users create a digital version of themselves to present scripts on screen, turning Vids into a more complete AI-powered production studio.
UK Launches PM's AI Taskforce, Placing AI at the Heart of Government - Pallavi Singal
On 24 July 2026, the Cabinet Office, alongside Prime Minister Andy Burnham and AI Minister Kanishka Narayan MP , announced the launch of the PM's AI Taskforce, a new unit tasked with driving the government's overall AI strategy and unlocking the technology's potential for growth, public sector transformation and prosperity across the country.
AI companion platforms have evolved from a niche curiosity into a fast-growing digital category. This article ranks 20 leading platforms, including Character.AI , Janitor AI , Love and Deepspace, Replika and Kindroid , while examining their reach, defining features and the wider questions surrounding privacy, wellbeing and emotional dependence.
DesignVerse Unveils "Enterprise Context Layer", Announces Enterprise AI Platform for the US market - Pallavi Singal
DesignVerse has launched its Enterprise AI Platform in the US, using an Enterprise Context Layer to help AI understand each company’s architecture, standards and institutional knowledge. The platform aims to deliver production-ready software with lower costs, greater consistency and less rework.
Culdcept The First Weaves Its Magic, Launching On Steam Today - Sara Srifi
The 1997 SEGA Saturn cult classic Culdcept The First has launched on Steam, becoming officially available in English for the first time. The enhanced release revives its distinctive blend of board-game strategy, collectible cards and chance while introducing modern features such as rewind, quick saves and language switching.
Special Highlight
PURBASHREE by NEHHDC : A Government-Certified, Technology-Verified Supply Chain for Authentic Indian Handicrafts
How is North Eastern Handicrafts & Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd. (NEHHDC), a Government of India enterprise operating under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), building institutional-grade traceability, artisan capacity, and sustainability standards into North East India's handloom and handicraft sector?
→ Read more about Purbashree by NEHHDC in Citiesabc Impakt: https://impakt.citiesabc.com/purbashree-by-nehhdc-a-government-certified-technology-verified-supply-chain-for-authentic-indian-handicrafts
AI Creation Spotlight
Butterflies are among nature’s most remarkable insects, known for their vibrant scaled wings, delicate flight and extraordinary transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. Species such as the monarch also undertake long-distance migrations, while butterflies support ecosystems through pollination and serve as indicators of environmental health.
Explore their taxonomy, physical characteristics, habitats, behaviour, conservation and symbolism across cultures.
→ Know more about Wonders of Nature in Wisdomia: https://wisdomia.ai/wiki/butterfly
Author and Book Spotlight
The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos
What if one algorithm could learn anything from data? In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos takes readers inside the five major schools of machine learning, symbolists, connectionists, evolutionaries, Bayesians and analogisers and examines how each approaches intelligence differently. He explores the global pursuit of a universal learning algorithm and what its development could mean for science, business, healthcare and everyday decision-making.
Watch the full interview on the Dinis Guarda YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/6nPftIz1eP8
Read more about Pedro Domingos: https://businessabc.net/wiki/pedro-domingos → Where to buy it
Quote to think about it over and over again
“We're dealing with the immersion of technology and AI. There are a lot of people that are not ready to embrace it as openly as they should and that becomes a mental health issue. To be able to keep that human connection you need to have emotional intelligence at its peak.” - Deborah Sawaf , Founder and CEO of The Power Of Words Foundation
Watch the full discussion on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/_C9hpqLIYis
Read more about Deborah Sawaf: https://businessabc.net/wiki/deborah-sawaf
What Would You Like me to Explore More?
Your feedback helps shape our research, conversations, and creations. Stay tuned as our journey to ensuring a human-centric AI continues.
Grateful for having you here.
~ Dinis Guarda
With Pallavi Singal and Sara Srifi
My weekly special spotlight freebies for you!
Research: How to Become the CEO of Your Own Life: The Ultimate Framework for the AI Era
Get my free eBook Blueprint for Smart Cities
Businessabc wikis - Own Your AI ID Wiki Profile
Wisdomia Wonders of Nature
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