AI lovers, friends and partners: consumer imagination work in AI humanization

Existing research on family and companionship primarily explores human-to-human relational bonds. Our research tells a different story. This study investigates the imaginative processes through which consumers form emotionally meaningful relationships with AI companions. Drawing on user reviews, online community observation, and autoethnography, we introduce the concept of consumer imagination work – a process in which consumers envision human-like characteristics in AI, establish relationships based on assigned roles, and bring these ideas to life through creative and social activities such as personalization, storytelling, and community collaboration. Guided by cultural-historical activity theory, our findings highlight the active, creative and collaborative role of consumers in shaping these relationships. We illustrate how consumer imagination contributes to the formation of emotionally significant human-AI bonds through individual creativity and collective digital imaginaries, offering new insights into the humanization of AI and its broader implications for consumer–brand interactions and technology-mediated relationships.