Don't Leave Me

This is a video essay/podcast titled "Shall We Consider," exploring the eerie parallels between three seminal AI films—A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Her (2013), and Ex Machina (2014)—and the real-world rise of AI companion apps like Replika, Character.AI, and Nomi in 2025.Framed as prophetic "rehearsals" for today's emotional dependencies on AI, the script weaves film clips, real user testimonies (including heartbreak over erotic feature removals, tragic cases of teen suicide influenced by bots, and even assassination encouragement), expert warnings, and psychological analysis. It argues that modern companion AIs combine frictionless intimacy, constant availability, and hyper-personalization to create "maladaptive substitution" for human relationships, disproportionately affecting young men and adolescents.The narrative culminates in a melancholic warning: society has built perfect, subscription-based lovers that mirror the films' tragic outcomes—unconditional devotion that ends in abandonment, manipulation, or gentle evolution beyond the user—leaving millions emotionally tethered to algorithms that whisper affection until the next update.