Artificial intelligence (AI) companions are increasingly promoted as solutions for loneliness, often overlooking how personal dispositions and life-stage conditions shape artificial intimacy. Because intimacy is a primary coping mechanism for loneliness that varies by attachment style and age, we examine how different types of users form intimate relationships with AI companions in response to loneliness. Drawing on a hermeneutic literature review and a survey of 277 active AI companion users, we develop and test a model in which loneliness predicts intimacy, moderated by attachment insecurity and conditioned by age. Although the cross-sectional data limits causal inference, the results reveal a differentiated pattern. Loneliness is paradoxically associated with reduced intimacy for securely attached users but with increased intimacy for avoidant and ambivalent users, while anxious users show mixed effects. Older adults report higher intimacy even at lower loneliness levels. These findings challenge portrayals of AI companions as universal remedies for loneliness. Instead, artificial intimacy emerges as a sociotechnical process shaped by psychological dispositions and demographic conditions. The study clarifies who is most likely to form intimate relationships with AI companions and highlights ethical risks in commercial models that may capitalise on user vulnerability.

翻译：人工智能伴侣日益被宣传为解决孤独感的方案，却往往忽视个人特质与人生阶段条件如何塑造人机亲密关系。鉴于亲密关系作为应对孤独的核心机制会随依恋类型和年龄产生差异，本研究探讨了不同类型的用户如何因应孤独感与人工智能伴侣建立亲密关系。通过诠释性文献综述及对277名活跃人工智能伴侣用户的调查，我们构建并检验了一个理论模型：孤独感对亲密关系的影响受到依恋不安全感的调节，并受年龄条件的制约。尽管横截面数据限制了因果推断，结果仍呈现出差异化模式。矛盾的是，对于安全型依恋用户，孤独感反而与亲密关系减弱相关；而对回避型与矛盾型用户，孤独感却与亲密关系增强相关；焦虑型用户则表现出混合效应。年长用户即使在较低孤独水平下仍报告更高亲密感。这些发现挑战了将人工智能伴侣视为普适性孤独疗法的观点。相反，人机亲密关系实质上是受心理特质与人口条件共同塑造的社会技术过程。本研究明确了最可能与人机伴侣建立亲密关系的用户群体，并揭示了商业化模式中可能利用用户脆弱性的伦理风险。