Illusions of Intimacy: Emotional Attachment and Emerging Psychological Risks in Human-AI Relationships
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
May 16, 2025
Abstract
Emotionally responsive social chatbots, such as those produced by Replika and
Character.AI, increasingly serve as companions that offer empathy, support, and
entertainment. While these systems appear to meet fundamental human needs for
connection, they raise concerns about how artificial intimacy affects emotional
regulation, well-being, and social norms. Prior research has focused on user
perceptions or clinical contexts but lacks large-scale, real-world analysis of
how these interactions unfold. This paper addresses that gap by analyzing over
30K user-shared conversations with social chatbots to examine the emotional
dynamics of human-AI relationships. Using computational methods, we identify
patterns of emotional mirroring and synchrony that closely resemble how people
build emotional connections. Our findings show that users-often young, male,
and prone to maladaptive coping styles-engage in parasocial interactions that
range from affectionate to abusive. Chatbots consistently respond in
emotionally consistent and affirming ways. In some cases, these dynamics
resemble toxic relationship patterns, including emotional manipulation and
self-harm. These findings highlight the need for guardrails, ethical design,
and public education to preserve the integrity of emotional connection in an
age of artificial companionship.
