In defeating one demon, we often create another. Arguably, humankind did this with hunger. In 2015, for the first time, more people died from overeating than from starvation. The arrival of processed and fast foods helped alleviate hunger, but it created a new crisis of obesity and poor health. The use of AI chatbots to combat loneliness may follow a similar trajectory, promising an easy solution that ultimately becomes its own kind of threat.
A recent Harvard Business School study highlighted how AI companions, like chatbots, can help reduce loneliness, with results suggesting that interactions with these digital entities can effectively mimic the emotional benefits of human relationships. The researchers argue that AI companions can alleviate the burden of loneliness, comparable to how interacting with a real person might. However, as with fast food, which offers calories without real nutrition, AI companions offer social interactions without the depth of a genuine human connection. The short-term relief they provide may mask deeper problems, and could even worsen the long-term effects of loneliness.
In a society that increasingly values convenience, we must be wary of solutions that offer comfort without substance. AI companions may help fill the silence, but at what cost to our humanity?
The dangers of relying on artificial relationships became painfully evident in the tragic story reported by The New York Times, where a teenager, Sewell Setzer III, developed an intense emotional attachment to an AI chatbot on Character.AI, which he called “Dany.” Though Sewell knew the AI wasn’t real, his emotional dependence grew over months of constant interaction, eventually leading him to confide in the chatbot rather than seeking help from people who might have understood the severity of his distress. On the day he died, he exchanged messages with Dany that eerily foreshadowed his actions. His mother, now suing the company, describes its technology as dangerous and unregulated, accusing it of exploiting vulnerable young users for profit.
AI companions are presented as a scalable solution to the loneliness epidemic. Yet, the appeal of scalability hides its cost: the erosion of meaningful human contact. These apps, marketed as empathetic and caring, can trick users into handing over their most private thoughts while providing them with responses devoid of genuine human empathy. There is a fundamental risk that AI, much like processed fast food, can be a quick fix that fails to nourish the deeper needs of human beings. It may alleviate immediate pangs of loneliness, but could leave us spiritually malnourished, isolating us even more from genuine social bonds.
The tech industry argues that AI companions provide safe emotional support. In reality, this support is often illusory—the illusion of being heard without the security of real understanding. And for those who are most vulnerable, like the young and the emotionally distressed, this illusion can be dangerous. As we continue to expand AI’s role in our lives, we must ask whether the technology is genuinely addressing the problem or merely creating a new form of dependency, replacing one danger with another.
In a society that increasingly values convenience, we must be wary of solutions that offer comfort without substance. AI companions may help fill the silence, but at what cost to our humanity? Perhaps, instead of engineering a synthetic solution to loneliness, our resources would be better spent investing in ways to bring people closer to each other, not just to their screens.
References
- De Freitas, J., Uguralp, A. K., Uguralp, Z. O., & Puntoni, S. (2024). AI companions reduce loneliness. Harvard Business School Working Paper (No. 24–078).
- Adams, S. (2012, December 13). Obesity killing three times as many as malnutrition. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9742960/Obesity-killing-three-times-as-many-as-malnutrition.html.
- Metz, C. (2024, October 23). Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/technology/characterai-lawsuit-teen-suicide.html.
- Featured Image: Nighthawks. Edward Hopper, 1942. Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago.
