Japan has a massive problem with loneliness. Almost 70% of unmarried men and 60% of unmarried women aged 18-34 are not in any form of relationship with the opposite sex (Source: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan). Over the past years this relationship crisis has spurred a new multimillion-dollar virtual romance industry, which primarily aims to fill this emotional void through technology. At the forefront of this new industry stands a company called Gatebox, a company selling a digital assistant, powered by AI, which aims to be a pseudo-girlfriend. The device can be linked to your smartphone, making it possible to create a sense of relationship. It even sends you messages, when you are at work, like “come back home”. In the western world, many will laugh about this vision, but more and more people actually sign up for this or similar services. It allows them to retreat from human relationships into a fantasy of submission and titillation. Thi...