For a growing number of people, AI chatbots have become close personal companions. Despite rising scholarly attention, theoretical accounts of how such relationships develop remain fragmented. Existing frameworks address important aspects of the phenomenon, but they rarely treat human-chatbot communication as the central behavior that builds relationships. To address this gap, we propose the AI relationship process (AI-RP) framework. The AI-RP outlines relationship formation as a sequential process. (a) Chatbot characteristics shape users' (b) social perceptions. These perceptions guide (c) communication, and communication produces (d) relational outcomes such as attachment and companionship. The AI-RP introduces a six-features profile characterizing chatbots, a dual-route approach of social perception, a behavioral conceptualization of communication and discusses the foundation and types of artificial relationships. By foregrounding observable communicative behavior, the AI-RP provides a foundation for theory building and empirical research on the social and ethical implications of AI companionship.

翻译：随着人工智能聊天机器人日益成为众多用户的亲密伙伴，相关学术关注度持续上升，但关于此类关系如何发展的理论阐释仍处于碎片化状态。现有研究框架虽触及了该现象的重要方面，却鲜少将人机对话这一核心互动行为视为关系建构的基础。为填补这一空白，本文提出人工智能关系过程（AI-RP）框架。该框架将关系形成阐释为序列化过程：（a）聊天机器人特征塑造用户的（b）社会认知，这些认知引导（c）沟通行为，而沟通行为进而产生（d）依恋感与陪伴感等关系结果。AI-RP框架创新性地提出包含六维特征的聊天机器人属性剖面、社会认知的双路径模型、沟通的行为化定义，并系统探讨了人工关系的基础类型。通过将可观测的沟通行为置于理论核心，本框架为人工智能陪伴的社会影响与伦理意蕴的理论建构与实证研究奠定了坚实基础。