"I use ChatGPT to humanize my words": Affordances and Risks of ChatGPT to Autistic Users

2026-01-25

AI Summary

This study examines the tension between utility and risk experienced by autistic users when engaging with large language models such as ChatGPT, focusing on their dual role in providing cognitive support and shaping identity. Through an inductive thematic analysis of 3,984 social media posts, framed within the lens of technological affordances, the research identifies four key utilities: alleviating executive dysfunction, regulating emotions, translating neurotypical communication norms, and affirming autistic identity. Concurrently, it uncovers three significant risks: reinforcing delusional thinking, erasing authentic selfhood, and provoking moral conflict. The work introduces the novel conceptual duality of “affordance–risk” and proposes the constructs of “productive friction” and “bidirectional translation,” offering a new direction for designing neuroinclusive artificial intelligence systems.

Technology Category

• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness
• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Safety, Robustness & Trustworthiness

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Large Language Model (LLM) chatbots like ChatGPT have emerged as cognitive scaffolding for autistic users, yet the tension between their utility and risk remains under-articulated. Through an inductive thematic analysis of 3,984 social media posts by self-identified autistic users, we apply the Technology Affordance framework to examine this duality. We found that while users leveraged ChatGPT to offload executive dysfunction, regulate emotions, translate neurotypical communication, and validate their autistic identity, these affordances coexist with significant risks: reinforcing delusional thinking, erasing authentic identity through automated masking, and triggering conflicts with the autistic sense of justice. This poster identifies these trade-offs in autistic users'interactions with ChatGPT and concludes by outlining our future work on developing neuro-inclusive technologies that address these tensions through beneficial friction and bidirectional translation.

Problem

• ChatGPT
• autistic users
• technology affordances
• cognitive scaffolding
• neuro-inclusive technology

Innovation

• Technology Affordance
• Large Language Models
• Autistic Identity
• Neuro-inclusive Design
• Beneficial Friction