[esclerofilo]

> hard to imagine an "AI girlfriend" that could be similarly short-term and bring positive changes.

Feeling lonely has negative consequences, there's a famous study comparing it to smoking cigarettes. Lonely people can get fixated on that feeling. Mitigating it may help people look for other hobbies, that they kept putting off because they were so focused on their need of a girlfriend.

Hell, a realistic enough "woman AI" (not "girlfriend AI") could make you lose the fear of flirting, be useful as practice, to have more confidence when you have a real date.

> the most profitable way to run such a product is not to help, it's to eat up as much user time as possible

If you charge per-month (like OP), it's more profitable is to eat up less time.