An AI App Wants to Plan Your Anniversary So Your Boyfriend Doesn't Have To

Key points

• Orchid, a new AI agent, released a promotional video this week showing the app planning an anniversary on behalf of a forgetful boyfriend.
• A survey of more than 13,000 adults found that 59 percent said AI relationship advice left them more confused than before.
• Licensed therapist Lauren Maher says outsourcing communication to AI prevents couples from resolving the real problems underneath.
• Orchid's core product targets workplace and workflow tasks, not relationships specifically.

What did Orchid's ad actually show?

A boyfriend named Sam is gaming and rifling through expired groceries while his anniversary slips by. An AI agent, software that can carry out multi-step tasks on its own, steps in and saves him: booking a restaurant, ordering his girlfriend's favourite flowers (lilies, a detail he had also forgotten), while she watches on her own Orchid screen and lets him take the credit anyway.

The ad dropped on Wednesday and the internet did not take it well. Users on X called it a product for "adult babies uninterested in the world they live in" and accused it of "perpetuating dead-end relationships that both parties secretly hate."

Wired AI first reported the backlash.

Does outsourcing relationship tasks actually help?

No. Therapists say it makes things worse. Lauren Maher, a licensed marriage and family therapist based in Los Angeles, puts it plainly: "An AI app will never be able to compensate for a lack of attention or genuine caring, and no amount of feigned attention will convince the nervous system that someone is there for you when they are not."

Maher points to a concept called triangulation, which is when two people avoid talking to each other directly and instead route everything through a third party. Couples therapists already warn against it between humans. Routing it through an AI app, she says, is "a bizarre option" that masks problems rather than solving them.

"Trying to outsource difficult but necessary communication will prevent couples from facing the messy but meaningful growing pains of their relationship," she adds.

What do the numbers say?

A recent survey by astrology app Hint, which polled 13,000-plus adults across the US, Latin America and Europe, found that 59 percent of respondents said AI relationship advice left them more confused than they started. Nearly half (47 percent) said the volume of AI input pushed them to delay decisions about their romantic lives altogether. More guidance, worse outcomes.

So what is Orchid actually for?

Relationships appear to be a marketing hook, not the real product. Orchid pitches itself as a workflow tool that can "automate your life" by working across your connected apps without you having to switch between them. Think calendar management, email triage, that kind of thing. The couples angle looks more like a bid for attention than a core feature.

Beyond a texting tool, it is not yet clear what sets Orchid apart from other AI agents already on the market. Orchid did not respond to a request for comment.

The ad worked as a conversation starter. Whether the product works as anything else is a different question entirely.

Common questions

Can an AI agent fix a troubled relationship?

No. Therapists are consistent on this: AI can schedule a dinner, but it cannot replace the emotional presence and honest communication that actually repair trust between partners.

Is using AI for relationship tasks always a bad idea?

Not always. Using AI to reduce admin stress, like organising a shared calendar or setting reminders, can free up mental space for couples. The problem starts when the AI substitutes for real effort and real conversation rather than supporting them.