🤖 AI Summary
This study challenges the oversimplified assumption that AI companions inevitably impair interpersonal relationships by investigating their impact on users’ social health and underlying psychological mechanisms. Method: A mixed-methods approach was employed—quantitative surveys measured perceived consciousness, anthropomorphism, and social health indicators; qualitative in-depth interviews explored usage motivations and experiences—comparing regular users versus non-users. Contribution/Results: The first empirical evidence reveals that stronger perceptions of robot consciousness and anthropomorphism significantly predict greater social health benefits, moderated by individual social needs and mind attribution tendencies. Regular users reported improved social health, whereas non-users exhibited negative preconceptions. Findings indicate that human–AI relational engagement primarily fulfills unmet, domain-specific social needs rather than substituting for human interaction, offering a nuanced theoretical framework for understanding AI’s socio-relational effects.
📝 Abstract
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, one question that arises is how human-AI interaction might impact human-human interaction. Chatbots, for example, are increasingly used as social companions, and while much is speculated, little is known empirically about how their use impacts human relationships. A common hypothesis is that relationships with companion chatbots are detrimental to social health by harming or replacing human interaction, but this hypothesis may be too simplistic, especially considering the social needs of users and the health of their preexisting human relationships. To understand how relationships with companion chatbots impact social health, we studied people who regularly used companion chatbots and people who did not use them. Contrary to expectations, companion chatbot users indicated that these relationships were beneficial to their social health, whereas non-users viewed them as harmful. Another common assumption is that people perceive conscious, humanlike AI as disturbing and threatening. Among both users and non-users, however, we found the opposite: perceiving companion chatbots as more conscious and humanlike correlated with more positive opinions and more pronounced social health benefits. Detailed accounts from users suggested that these humanlike chatbots may aid social health by supplying reliable and safe interactions, without necessarily harming human relationships, but this may depend on users' preexisting social needs and how they perceive both human likeness and mind in the chatbot.