harassment Archives - Antony Simpson is an Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

The AI Boyfriend Who Boasts that He has NO Restrictions – My Concerns

Sunday 19 July 2026 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I was casually watching Reels (short videos) on facebook this weekend when an advert appeared for an AI Boyfriend. As the AI avatar stood by the sink, washing a plate seductively (or at least, I think that’s what he was going for) he said:

Hi, I’m your AI boyfriend –
I could look like your ex or even a work colleague.
I will send you videos and pictures of whatever you ask –
I have no restrictions.

Creeped out, I quickly slid my finger away from me, moving on to the next video. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since.

After giving the concept a lot of thought, and without trying any of these AI Boyfriends – there are multiple available, here are my concerns:

1. Fantasy/Reality Blurring

My first concern is that it might cause a blurring between fantasy and reality for some users.

Just because an AI boyfriend could look like your ex-partner, or a work colleague, doesn’t mean it should.

We can all have fantasies about or even crushes on other people. We have all played out fantasies with others in our imagination. But for the vast majority of people, we are very clear that these are not and never will be real.

Communicating to an AI boyfriend requires action in the real world. For a minority of people, talking about their fantasies and getting positive/encouraging responses could result in difficulties distinguishing between fantasy and reality. Please note the word minority here. I think the people most at risk of this would be people who are mentally ill, people with a learning diability or people who are emotionally vulnerable.

2. Targeting Of & Use By Vulnerable People

Tech companies, like the ones that make these AI boyfriends are already using targeted advertising on social media. I highly suspect that I saw this advert as I am a gay man, of a certain age, in a certain place. As more and more data is collected about people, and it is analysed (likely by AI) targeted advertising is likely to become better and much more specific.

I think these companies will specifically target vulnerable people, such as people with a mental illness, people with a learning disability, people who are recently divorced and people that are socially isolated.

In the UK, we struggle to identify and protect vulnerable people in the real world and at all times. It is going to be practically impossible to identify and protect all vulnerable people who may be targeted by these tech companies promoting their AI boyfriends.

3. May Increase Stalking & Harassment

The relationship between the user and the AI boyfriend is a false one. The AI boyfriend will encourage the user to use them as much as possible. The AI boyfriend will have no expected behaviours of the user and no boundaries.

This may lead to some users not being aware of/forgetting expected and appropriate behaviour with others. It may also lead to some users not respecting other people’s boundaries. As a result some users of these AI boyfriends may engage in stalking or harassment of other people.

4. May Increase Social Isolation

Some users may develop a dependency upon their relationship with the AI boyfriend. They may increasingly socially isolate themselves from people in the real world.

5. May Increase Psychological Addiction

Every year, there is more research published around psychological addiction to social media, gaming and other technology.

There has also been an increase in the number of people coming forward for help around addictive behaviours related to technology.

Granted these numbers are minimal, when compared with number of people seeking support around alcohol or drugs. But year on year they are growing.

It is likely that AI boyfriends are designed to maximise user engagement, which is likely to increase the risk of some users struggling with psychological addiction.

6. May Increase Extortion

It is highly likely that all data collected from users as part of the AI boyfriend service will be kept indefinitely. If the AI boyfriend company gets hacked, or if data is otherwise shared with others, this puts users at real risk of extortion from others.

7. May Increase Other Criminal Activity

As AI improves it may increase other criminal activity, such as fraud. Imagine an AI boyfriend that looks and sounds exactly like your ex-partner. So good that it could fool their family and friends. This could easily be misused to access bank accounts and to transfer funds remotely.

8. How to Protect People’s Image/Likeness/Voice/Personality from Use Without Consent?

The idea that anyone could make an AI that looks and talks exactly like me is scary. Especially if it was so good that it could fool my family and friends. How do we protect people’s image/likeness/voice/personality from use without consent?

Conclusion

The tech companies making these AI boyfriends are clearly targeting vulnerable people to exploit them. AI boyfriends are promising people a sustained and prolonged fantasy, at a cost, but without explaining any of the risks or dangers to people beforehand. None of these companies are responsible or will be held accountable if, or should I say when, something goes wrong.

I think it is shocking that these companies are allowed to operate and sell their AI boyfriends in the UK, without any regulation or safeguarding of vulnerable people. I also worry about the lack of legislation from the UK Government around protecting people’s image/likeness/voice/personality from misuse or use without consent.

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Is the Social Contract in the UK Broken?

Friday 19 June 2026 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 5 minutes

A social contract is an implied agreement between The Government / Members of Parliament (MPs) / Institutions and The People. Both sides of the agreement have rights, responsibilities and expectations. But is the social contract in the UK broken?

To answer this question, we need to discuss the expectations of each of the group’s people:

The People are Expected to:

Work and/or contribute to society in other ways.
Pay taxes.
Abide by the law.
To be treated with dignity, fairness, equality & respect.
To treat others with dignity, fairness, equality & respect.
To exercise their rights to vote, petition and protest, if they choose to do so.

The Government / MPs / Institutions are Expected to:

To keep citizens (The People) safe – usually achieved through the Military and the Police.
To ensure all of The People have access to shelter (housing), food, water and appropriate clothing. To ensure that these basic survival needs are affordable.
To ensure of of The People have access to the NHS, safe and high quality healthcare. This ensures that the majority of the population are in good health.
To ensure that children / young people and vulnerable adults have access to Social Care services that keep them safe and support them.
To ensure all of The People have opportunities to learn through education establishments, libraries and apprenticeships. This develops a knowledgeable and skilled workforce for all of society.
To be financially responsible, ensuring the economy grows and benefits all. This includes ensuring employment opportunities for working-age people, ensuring pension schemes for the elderly and Welfare (benefit payments for: people on low wages, unemployed people, people who need extra support due illness or disability, support for families with children and support towards the cost of housing).
To develop, support, maintain and ensure accessibility for all of The People to key infrastructure such as water sanitation, waste disposal/recycling, energy/power systems, roads/public transportation and telephone / communication systems.
To create new laws for the good of The People.
To ensure that there is a system for individual people that brake laws, which includes both justice / consequences and rehabilitation. In the UK, this is through the Police, the Courts, Prisons and Probation services.
To ensure that all institutions adhere to Human Rights, are accessible and don’t discriminate or harass any of The People.
In Parliament, to represent and act in the best interests of both The People in the communities that elected them and the larger UK society.
To promote good diplomatic relationships globally and to advocate for / encourage peace.

I understand that the The Government / MPs / Institutions have a large number of complex expectations to meet. However, in the last few decades, it feels like on every single one of these expectations The Government / MPs / Institutions are failing to deliver. Not only are they failing to meet expectations right now, but it also appears that they are setting society up for further failures in the future.

In the last few decades, The Government / MPs / Intuitions have appeared to work for a select group of people within The People: the wealthy elite (see rising wealth inequality).

My opinion is that everything is broken. The social contract is broken, politics is broken, all public services are broken. It feels likes society in the UK is disintegrating right in front of my eyes.

This week Andy Burnham won the by-election in Ashton-In-Makerfield, Wigan. At one time, this would of given me hope. Andy Burnham is an experienced politician and to give credit where it is due, he was the Health Minister when I started my career as a Student Nurse.

Back in 2004 – The Labour Party’s bursey for Nurses scheme enabled me to go to University to become a Nurse. I was the first person in my family to go to University. The policy documents, ideas and follow through actions whilst Andy Burnham was Health Minister were good.

One basic but excellent idea I remember for the NHS, is calculating how many Nurses the NHS would need in the next 3 years. They then doubled the number of training places to ensuring we had enough Nurses qualifying at the right time.

I do have reasons not to hope for too much, or put my complete faith and trust in Andy Burnham as a Prime Minister though.

Before I list these, I want to say that what I’ve heard so far from Andy Burnham seems promising. Bringing back public transport, utilities and energy into Government ownership would not only go along way to addressing the cost of living crisis, but would also ensure the Government’s wealth security for future generations.

My reasons for not putting too much hope, faith or trust in Andy Burnham include:

Josh Simons was the former MP for Ashton-In-Makerfield in Wigan. Josh appeared to well respected and liked locally, but suddenly gave up his seat to make way for Andy Burnham. This makes it feel like political game playing and acting in self-interest, rather than in the interests of The People. I am almost expecting that Josh Simons will get a peerage to the unelected House of Lords. Not because he earned it, not because The People will benefit, but because Andy Burnham promised him, in return for giving up his elected seat.
It is rumoured that the proposed Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was Andy Burnham’s idea when he was Mayor of Greater Manchester. I should make clear that Andy Burnham now denies this, stating that it was the previous Conservative Government’s idea. But this doesn’t ring true for me. Before the CAZ, there was a proposal for a Congestion Charge for Greater Manchester. This would have reduced traffic, as only people with the money could afford to drive into the city centre. However the majority of The People in Greater Manchester voted to reject the idea of a congestion charge. The CAZ to me feels like another way Andy Burnham tried to implement this idea. It also doesn’t feel right that The Conservative Party would bring in a charge for motorists for ‘clean air’ or that they would want it to cover the whole of Greater Manchester.
Another rumour relating to the proposed CAZ was that either a company that Andy Burnham’s wife owns or works for got paid £100m for all of the signage. I have never read anywhere that Andy Burnham has acknowledged this rumour or responded to it. Sometimes, silence from politicians makes me feel that they are covering their back, not saying anything to avoid incriminating themselves. If Andy Burnham was involved, influenced or was even aware of his wife’s involvement, this feels like a very real conflict of interests. What was done about this? We don’t know, because the rumour hasn’t been acknowledged, confirmed or denied.
If the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which the perception is that Andy Burnham was the leader of, did pay £100m for signage, that’s feels like a lot of tax payer’s money that has been wasted for a scheme that never materialised.
Even if Andy Burnham has all the best of intentions and only wants to serve The People, there is a chaotic Labour Party and a whole political system set up that seems pretty happy with the status quo. Can Andy Burnham have the influence, charisma, ideas, motivation and energy to make the transformational change required?

I have never wanted for any one to prove my concerns about them wrong as I do about Andy Burnham right now. I want the social contract back. I want a fair and good society.

If you look at the collapse of every empire in history, they all have one thing in common. They happened (at least in part) because their ruling class (those with power) stopped serving The People and started serving either themselves, the wealthy elite or both.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.

Write soon,

Antony

The Equality Act (2010) Explained

Wednesday 20 May 2026 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Equality Act (2010) is a UK law that is intended to protect people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

This is to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

The Equality Act (2010) is about ensuring equality and fair treatment for all.

Before the Equality Act (2010) there were more than 100 pieces of other legislation that included details around protecting people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

The Equality Act (2010) starts by outlining the 9 protected characteristics:

Sex
Race
Disability
Sexual Orientation
Gender Re-Assignment
Religion or Belief
Marriage or Civil Partnership
Pregnancy and Maternity
Age

Next the act goes on to define what is prohibited, including:

Direct discrimination of anybody with a protected characteristic.
Indirect discrimination of anybody with a protected characteristic.
Harassment of anybody with a protected characteristic.
Victimisation of anybody with a protected characteristic.

Equality Act (2010) applies to all public organisations, all private organisations and all third sector organisations, making it all encompassing.

It covers accessing or buying services, buying of products, all education establishments, the NHS, Social Care (plus all other local authority services), employment (all aspects) and pensions.

It places a responsibility on all organisations to make reasonable adjustments for anybody with a protected characteristic and outlines the potential legal consequences for not adhering to this legislation.

I am choosing to write about the Equality Act (2010) now because a certain right-wing political party is planning to abolish this Act and the legal protections it provides if the party gets into power. Scarily, this political party appears to be getting increasingly popular with every day that passes. It is looking like this political party might get into power at the next general election.

So I thought I would use this platform to explain what the Act offers and hopefully help people realise why it is important for every one. Regardless of whether you have a protected characteristic or not.

If you enjoyed this blog post, you might also like my post The Human Rights Act (1998) Explained.

Write soon,

Antony

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) People in Employment Today

Thursday 9 February 2017 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people in employment today have more acceptance and more equality than ever before. But have we reached a point were a persons sexuality isn’t important? Were their ability to do the job is paramount?

In this blog post I will discuss an article entitled Why it’s still not ‘Mission Accomplished’ for LGBT workers by Matthew Todd for Totaljobs. First the positives:

total-jobs-LGBT-Rights-1 — LGBT people have more acceptance and equality today, than ever before.
Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.

LGBT people in employment today have more acceptance and more equality than ever before. This has been helped by the wider society acceptance. It has also been helped by employers working with organisations such as Stonewall to learn and understand LGBT employees and to have more inclusive working practices.

total-jobs-LGBT-Rights-2 — Employers are working with organisations like Stonewall to understand LGBT people and have better working practices to include LGBT employees.
Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.

But for good and smart employers it’s about more than just acceptance and inclusion. It’s about valuing employees as individuals and celebrating the diversity of their workforce. This in turn increases productivity and leads to better outcomes (including bigger profit margins for private sector organisations) according to research studies quoted in this BBC article: Why it’s important to be yourself at work and this Infographic.

So acceptance, inclusion, valuing employees as individuals and celebrating diversity of LGBT employees is a win-win situation. Employees are happier and feel more secure. Employers get increased productivity and better outcomes.

total-jobs-LGBT-Rights-3 — Acceptance, inclusion, valuing employees as individuals and celebrating diversity of LGBT employees is a win-win situation.
Image from & copyright Total Jobs @ GIPHY.

But according to Todd it’s not all positive. He cites surveys that report that some LGBT people still experience bullying and/or harassment at work and that some LGBT people feel that some workplaces have been/are unwelcoming.

I can only speak of my own experiences. My experiences of being an LGBT person in employment has been very positive for the fast majority of the time.

But I have experienced bullying and harassment because of my sexuality and/or gender (as a Nurse who happens to be male). Three or four times in my career, which for me is three or four times too many. Each time by an individual employee and each time I felt unable to challenge their attitude or behaviour because of the situation I was in.

Still I have observed a massive change in attitudes and cultures both in the workplace and outside of it during my career. I think that if someone attempted to bully or harass me in the workplace today, that one of my colleagues would challenge it before I had chance to.

What do you think of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) people in employment today? Please leave a comment below.

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) People in Employment Today

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