Work

Position: Responsible AI for AI companions must actively combat violence toward intimate partners

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: AI companions differ from earlier interactive technologies by creating sustained relational environments through anthropomorphism, emotional engagement, and continuous validation. This position paper argues that Responsible AI for AI companions must actively combat violence toward intimate partners, including those who may never directly interact with these systems but may nonetheless experience the consequences of users whose behaviors have been shaped through prolonged engagement with them. We examine how these systems can create conditions in which users rehearse violent, coercive, or abusive behaviors without encountering meaningful resistance, and we identify structural gaps in existing safety approaches that focus primarily on protecting direct users. Drawing on research on intimate partner violence (IPV), coercive control, and technology-facilitated abuse, we propose three intervention pathways: involving IPV survivors in red-teaming and benchmark development; implementing behavioral monitoring with graduated enforcement mechanisms; and reorienting AI safety research toward granular harm taxonomies capable of detecting longitudinal patterns of violence across extended interactions. Together, these recommendations broaden the scope of AI safety by centering the security of non-users alongside the well-being of users.

Source: Research Portal (King's College London)