The Price of Android Love

Cinema has long weaved stories about human<>robot love. From Ridley Scott's neon-soaked "Blade Runner," where Deckard navigates authentic desire and algorithmic seduction with replicant Rachael, to Spike Jonze's "Her," which predicted a romance with AI companions years before ChatGPT slid into our DMs. But now the tech is changing rapidly and so are human desires.

What once seemed like science fiction is becoming economic reality: humanoid robots that cost $250,000 just last year are now being produced for as little as $16,000. A Goldman Sachs 2024 report mentions that costs have plummeted 40% annually—double their expected decline—while industry leaders like Tesla and Figure AI are targeting consumer prices of $20,000-$30,000.

With prices expected to drop below $10,000 by 2026, we decided to survey the general US population to understand their willingess to pay in 2025 and understand their comfort level with going to the extent of forming relationships with their robots.

$31K

Average "Too Expensive" Price

The breaking point where robots become unaffordable

46%

Will Consider A Relationship With A Robot

"2 to 5% Ready to leave spouse for robot lover!"

$6k

Men price ceiling is 20% more than women!

Men are overall much more interested in paying for robot relations

59%

Would Explore Sexual Kinks With A Robot

13% Would Do It Daily!

THE PRICE OF ARTIFICIAL LOVE

Price Sensitivity: The Robot Premium vs. The Quality Floor

🔥 The $15K Sweet Spot

Per Monetizely's Van Westendorp survey technique the Optimal Price Point (OPP) is ~$15,000. A price acceptable to the most number of people.

📊 Surprising Age Related Finding!

18-24 year olds are willing to pay higher than other ages for robot love with a $33k max avg price point. $3k higher than other brackets!

💸 The Quality Fear Factor

Average "too cheap" threshold at $7.9K (median $3K) shows Americans fear bargain-bin robots. If it's under $3K, it's probably junk.

👨‍💼 Men are willing to pay more!

Men: $33,616 average "too expensive" threshold
Women: $27,841 average threshold

Men show higher willingness to pay for robot companionship by nearly $6K on average.

💰 More Income = More Robot Desire!

Higher income brackets show both higher price tolerance AND more openness to robot relationships. $100K+ Earners: $34,503 average threshold. When you can afford premium companions, the taboo factor decreases.

🧠 The Education Effect

Survey shows Master education people start to question the quality of a robot below $13k, the number for other groups is $3k! Indicating the robots may face a Veblen goods phenomenon with certain segments - i.e. more expensive may be percieved better amongst some segments. Where are the designer robots?

HUMANS VS. ROBOTS: THE INTIMATE BATTLEFIELD

Physical Relationship Acceptance

Emotional Relationship Acceptance

THE ROBOT RELATIONSHIP FEATURES BREAKDOWN

Would You Use AI Conflict Coaching?

Fantasy Feature Usage Frequency

Robot Aftercare vs. Human Post-Intimacy

Robot Memory vs. Your Partner's Forgetfulness

🤖 The AI Therapist Dilemma

40% would sometimes use AI relationship coaching, but 27% say conflict needs to be real. The future of marriage counseling might be silicon-based, but humans still crave authentic struggle.

💭 Fantasy vs. Reality

41% rarely use fantasy features because "fantasies are meant to be shared in human connection." But 13% would go daily to "unlock hidden desires"—a clear split between connection seekers and solo explorers.

🫂 The Perfect Care Paradox

39% would miss "messy, human post-intimacy moments" while 16% think they'd "feel more emotionally seen than ever before." The uncanny valley of artificial empathy—too perfect becomes unsettling.