We’ve heard story after story of people becoming obsessed with AI chatbots and losing touch with reality.
But there was always an ambiguity: Is the use of AI pushing people towards psychosis, or are people already suffering from mental health problems and looking to AI as a means to deal with them?
Now, new research has provided an important clue. As saipost reportsScientists have found that people who use AI chatbots experience higher levels of psychological distress than individuals who do not use them. This doesn’t fully establish causation, but it is a clear sign of correlation – and its implications could be profound.
“Humans have an innate need to form and maintain meaningful relationships, and in today’s digital world, many of these connections are increasingly coming to the fore through technology,” said Ina Savolainen, author and senior research fellow at Tampere University. saipost,
He added, “With the rise of AI, more people are using social chatbots to explore new forms of communication or for companionship, emotional support, or simply, everyday conversations.” “Yet despite this growing trend, surprisingly few empirical studies have examined who uses these devices and how such use relates to well-being.”
As detailed in A new paper published in Journal of Social and Personal RelationshipsSavolainen and colleagues in Tampere analyzed data from the 2023 Longitudinal Study. The data included responses from 5,663 adults from six European countries, including Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Poland, who filled out an online survey assessing their use of “chatbot friends” services offered by companies like Replika and My AI.
The team measured levels of psychological distress using a 38-item measure of mental well-being Called the Mental Health Inventory, and compared results between those who reported using an AI chatbot and those who did not.
It immediately became clear that there was a connection.
“The cross-cultural consistency was surprising; social chatbot use was related to worse mental health in all six countries,” Savolainen reported. saipost,
They said, “Overall, these results suggest that social chatbot use may emerge as a response to emotional or social challenges rather than a tool that inherently improves well-being.” “This doesn’t mean that chatbots can’t be helpful, but it reminds us that usage dynamics are complex and may reflect underlying needs that technology alone cannot fully address.”
Importantly, the researchers acknowledged that the study only allowed them to “discuss associations”, not infer a cause-and-effect relationship. In other words, although this is an interesting link, we still don’t know if social chatbot use actually causes negative mental health outcomes, or if the explanation is something more complex.
Another limitation of the study is the age of the dataset itself. The original survey was conducted in late 2023, less than a year after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, raising the possibility that trends have changed since then as more people have been attracted to the technology.
“Future research is needed to draw more robust conclusions on the use of social chatbots and their potential in supporting human health and well-being,” the paper reads. “Furthermore, the possibility that these technologies may be of particular interest to people who are already in vulnerable situations requires investigation.”
As researchers continue to study this topic, they are warning about the potential dangers of social chatbot use, especially among young people.
In extreme cases, we have already found that fascination with AI models has played a role in a rising number of deaths, leading to lawsuits against companies including Character.AI and OpenAI that are still pending in court.
“We are living a unique time of human-computer interaction, as various technologies become more sophisticated and culturally embedded,” Savolainen explained. saipost,
“As chatbots diversify and become more personal, it will be important to understand the evolving nature of these relationships,” he said.
More on using AI chatbots: A staggering proportion of teens now prefer talking to AI rather than a real person
