Netflix streams South Korean reality show with AI dating partners

In short: A South Korean reality series paired three celebrities with AI-made romantic partners, and it streamed worldwide on Netflix.

What happened

South Korea’s SBS released a reality show called My AI Partner: Strange Love. It has six episodes, and it first premiered in August 2026. The show streamed globally on Netflix and finished last month.

The cast includes webtoon artist and TV personality Kian84, comedian and host Jang Do-yeon, and actress Lee Yu-bi. Each celebrity is matched with a romantic partner that is not a real person. Instead, it is an AI-generated avatar that appears on a tablet, a bit like a video call with a character.

The production used “large language models” (AI systems that generate text, like an advanced autocomplete) including ChatGPT and Claude. It also used tools to create the avatar’s look and voice. The AI partners respond in real time during conversations, and within the show’s format they can make choices of their own.

Why it matters

This series is part of a broader interest in AI companions, especially in South Korea where AI services are widely adopted. The show is not saying the avatars are human. Instead, it asks a simpler question that affects everyday life, can people feel a real emotional connection to something that talks like a person but is actually software? It also puts loneliness front and center, which is a common reason people try chat-based AI in the first place.

Source: NYTimes