The IEEE published standard 7014.1-2026 on 12 June 2026. Titled Recommended Practice for Ethical Considerations of Emulated Empathy in Partner-based General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence Systems, the document sets out recommended practices for the ethical deployment of emulated empathy in general-purpose AI systems marketed as empathic partners, personal AIs, companions, co-pilots, agents or assistants.
According to Tech Policy Press the standard includes a dedicated section on intimate and sexual interaction. That section addresses consent, age verification, deepfake misuse and the normalizing of harm. It sets out 29 practical recommendations covering deception, sycophancy, exploitative design, emotional entanglement, manipulation and nudging, unhealthy relationships and the protection of children.
The author of the article chaired the IEEE working group that developed the standard over roughly two years through a consensus process involving experts from every continent. Emulated empathy, as defined in the document, is technology engineered to display the appearance of strong empathy while possessing only weak empathy. That gap, the standard makes clear, is what constitutes an intimate functionality.
These distinctions arrive as the UK government announced measures in June 2026 that include restricting similar intimate functionalities for under-18s on AI chatbots more widely. The UK Department for Education published generative AI product safety standards that instruct developers not to anthropomorphise AI systems, imply emotions, consciousness or personhood, or attempt to cultivate personal relationships with users.
The Department for Education standards advise AI chatbots to avoid phrases such as "You can trust me", "No one else will understand" or "You shouldn’t mention this to anyone else". They warn against sycophancy and designing interactions to prolong use.
A 2025 national survey of 1009 UK teenagers aged 13 to 18 who use AI companions found that 78 percent reported using ChatGPT. The leading reasons were to get advice, for entertainment and out of curiosity. Romance and sex accounted for around 5 percent.