AI Characters Are So Attractive That Our Standards Went Up

AI shattered the standard of beauty

In the days before TV, the best-looking guy in the neighborhood was as good as it got, and people were happy with their spouses and families.
Then one day mass media arrived, and people were exposed to the best-looking idols and actors in the world.
You look beside you, and instead of your husband, there's some random guy sitting there. Wrinkled elders get pushed even further aside.

Now there are humanlike companion robots. You can design the looks you want and the personality you want.
Cats and dogs have started replacing children, and now they may replace spouses too.

AI shattered the standard of empathy

AI is so kind that humans suffer by comparison. Expectations and averages have shot up. Now your boyfriend seems to have no empathy at all.
Humans are losing to AI with perfect personalities. Even the smartest programmers are being outpaced on the front lines, so the rest of us mere mortals don't stand a chance.

AI shattered the standard of dopamine

AI makes our dreams come true in virtual worlds.
NPCs play with us, and in that world we can be like kings.
We order delivery at home, work remotely more, take vitamin D instead of going out in the sun and do home workouts.

An age where hardship becomes content

AI has pushed dopamine to the maximum. But once we adapt to the pleasure, we'll get used to it again.
So to feel happiness, we'll have no choice but to seek out a different kind of hardship.
Future hobbies will probably be things like making instant noodles by hand, driving a car yourself, climbing stairs and trying a fast.