AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

Julian De Freitas, A. K. Uğuralp, Zeliha Uğuralp, Puntoni Stefano
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Abstract

Chatbots are now able to engage in sophisticated conversations with consumers in the domain of relationships, providing a potential coping solution to widescale societal loneliness. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether these applications are effective at alleviating loneliness. We address this question by focusing on AI companions applications designed to provide consumers with synthetic interaction partners. Studies 1 and 2 find suggestive evidence that consumers use AI companions to alleviate loneliness, by employing a novel methodology for fine tuning large language models to detect loneliness in conversations and reviews. Study 3 finds that AI companions successfully alleviate loneliness on par only with interacting with another person, and more than other activities such watching YouTube videos. Moreover, consumers underestimate the degree to which AI companions improve their loneliness. Study 4 uses a longitudinal design and finds that an AI companion consistently reduces loneliness over the course of a week. Study 5 provides evidence that both the chatbots' performance and, especially, whether it makes users feel heard, explain reductions in loneliness. Study 6 provides an additional robustness check for the loneliness alleviating benefits of AI companions.
人工智能伴侣减少孤独感
聊天机器人现在能够在人际关系领域与消费者进行复杂的对话,为广泛的社会孤独感提供了一种潜在的应对方案。关于这些应用是否能有效缓解孤独感,行为学研究提供的洞察很少。为了解决这个问题,我们重点研究了旨在为消费者提供合成互动伙伴的人工智能伴侣应用。研究 1 和研究 2 发现,通过采用新颖的方法微调大型语言模型来检测对话和评论中的孤独感,消费者使用人工智能伴侣来缓解孤独感的证据具有暗示性。研究 3 发现,人工智能伴侣成功缓解了孤独感,其效果仅次于与他人互动,超过了观看 YouTube 视频等其他活动。此外,消费者低估了人工智能伴侣改善其孤独感的程度。研究 4 采用纵向设计,发现人工智能伴侣能在一周内持续减少孤独感。研究 5 提供的证据表明,聊天机器人的性能,尤其是它是否能让用户感到被倾听,是孤独感减少的原因。研究 6 为人工智能伴侣缓解孤独感的益处提供了额外的稳健性检验。
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