Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Family Life: Issues, applications, and implications

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has redefined how people live and interact with technology. While AI continues to evolve, its integration into everyday life has brought both benefits and challenges. One area that may not have received enough attention is the exploration of AI's impact on interpersonal relationships and family dynamics and processes. Our hope for this multidisciplinary special issue of Family Relations is to provide an opportunity for reflection on the intersection of AI—broadly defined as any technological innovation that simulates human intelligence—and family dynamics as well as the study of or intervention in family dynamics. Although the research studies, reviews, and commentaries in this special issue focus on a variety of subtopics within family dynamics, we feel they can be centered around the following distinct but overlapping themes: (1) how AI is integrated within families and potential impacts on family dynamics and relationships, (2) how AI can support research and assist in identifying patterns or processes within families and relationships, (3) how AI can assist families and children in developing skills relevant to their lives and relationships, (4) how AI tools used by or with families are developed and assessed, and (5) policy and ethical considerations for AI use and family dynamics.