- Relying on ChatGPT for companionship? It might be making you lonelier. A new pair of studies from MIT Media Lab and Open found that frequent chatbot users experience more loneliness and emotional dependence.
ChatGPT might be making its most loyal users lonelier.
According to a pair of recent studies from OpenAI and MIT Media Lab, frequent, sustained use of ChatGPT may be linked to higher levels of loneliness.
“Overall, higher daily usage—across all modalities and conversation types—correlated with higher loneliness, dependence, and problematic use, and lower socialization,” the researchers said in an abstract for the two parallel studies.
The studies set out to investigate the extent to which interactions with ChatGPT impacted users’ emotional health, with a focus on the use of the chatbot’s advanced voice mode.
They included a randomized controlled trial (RCT) by MIT, in which 1,000 participants used ChatGPT over four weeks, and an automated analysis of nearly 40 million ChatGPT interactions conducted by OpenAI.
Across the studies, researchers found that those with stronger emotional attachment tendencies tended to experience more loneliness. In contrast, those with a higher level of trust in the chatbot experienced more emotional dependence.
They also suggested that “power users” were most likely to think of the chatbot as a “friend” or consider it to have humanlike emotions.
The studies also found that “personal” conversations with the chatbot were correlated with higher levels of loneliness among users.
“Results showed that while voice-based chatbots initially appeared beneficial in mitigating loneliness and dependence compared with text-based chatbots, these advantages diminished at high usage levels, especially with a neutral-voice chatbot,” the researchers said.
Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment, made outside normal working hours.
AI for companionship
ChatGPT has around 400 million weekly active users worldwide, with a growing number turning to the bot for personal advice and companionship.
It’s been a popular substitute for therapy for some, despite health professionals warning against this use case. According to a 2024 YouGov survey, just over half of young Americans aged 18 to 29 felt comfortable speaking to an AI about mental health concerns.
Another study even suggests that OpenAI’s chatbot gives better personal advice than professional columnists.
While some users say the bot helps ease loneliness, there has been increasing scrutiny about the negative effects of interacting with AI chatbots. AI companies that are aimed primarily at companionship, such as Replika and Character.ai, have been the most affected.
Character.ai is currently facing two separate lawsuits concerning interactions with minors, while Replika has drawn the scrutiny of Italian regulators.
The researchers said that the new findings “underscore the complex interplay between chatbot design choices (e.g., voice expressiveness) and user behaviors (e.g., conversation content, usage frequency” and called for further work to investigate “whether chatbots’ ability to manage emotional content without fostering dependence or replacing human relationships benefits overall well-being.”
