#aicompanions — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #aicompanions, aggregated by home.social.
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#Podcast -The Tragedy and Ecstasy of #AICompanions (with Bridget Todd)
Tech companies want you to believe that the #chatbots they profit from are the always ready, never judgmental, constantly affirming friend in our pockets. But are the people using them as #companions under some kind of deep self-delusion? Or are they seeking something else?
#ai #artificialintelligencehttps://www.404media.co/bridget-todd-love-at-first-prompt-ai-chatbot-companions-podcast/
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DATE: August 27, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Your psychological needs predict whether you will accept an AI companion or therapist
As artificial intelligence systems assume more socially important roles, people’s willingness to embrace these technologies depends heavily on their own psychological needs and cultural backgrounds. A recent study of over 35,000 individuals across 35 nations indicates that feelings of competence and autonomy shape whether people will allow an artificial agent to act as their doctor, teacher, or companion. Distinct patterns emerged across different regions of the world, highlighting the role of culture in technology adoption. The findings were published in Telematics and Informatics.
Researchers typically study technology acceptance by looking at factors like how useful or easy to use a new tool appears to be. “What interested us was the fact that AI is increasingly moving beyond being a tool that helps us with a task,” said study authors Magnus Liebherr of the University of Duisburg-Essen and Carnegie Mellon University Doha, Ala Yankouskaya of Bournemouth University, and Raian Ali of Hamad Bin Khalifa University. “We are beginning to consider AI for roles that have traditionally involved human responsibility and social interaction.”
“This made us wonder whether the factors that explain ordinary technology acceptance are sufficient to understand these much more consequential forms of AI use,” the researchers explained. Letting a computer program diagnose an illness or teach a child requires a transfer of trust that goes beyond simply adopting a new smartphone application. To understand what predicts this level of trust, scientists often look at fundamental human motivations.
Past research has established that a person’s cultural background systematically alters how readily they adopt new technologies. For example, a 2022 meta-analysis found that national cultural differences consistently influence technology acceptance models around the world. Building on this, researchers began testing how internal psychological needs encourage the use of specific technologies. A 2024 study showed that fulfilling basic psychological needs, like feeling independent and socially connected, predicts people’s willingness to use conversational artificial intelligence tools in educational settings.
Similarly, research covered by PsyPost in 2023 demonstrated that higher fulfillment of basic psychological needs through technology was associated with more positive attitudes toward artificial intelligence across several European countries. These earlier regional findings paved the way for a much broader global investigation. The new study aimed to see how these internal motivations predict the willingness to delegate sensitive social roles to artificial intelligence across multiple domains and diverse cultural landscapes.
The team drew on data from the 2023 Global Digital Wellbeing Survey, initiated by the Global Digital Wellbeing Program (SYNC) and the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), supported by Aramco. The researchers analyzed responses from 35,018 internet users aged 18 and older, spread across 35 countries. Participants answered questions about their basic psychological needs, specifically focusing on autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Autonomy involves feeling in control of one’s decisions, competence means feeling capable and effective, and relatedness refers to feeling connected to others.
To measure the readiness to delegate tasks to artificial intelligence, the survey presented four hypothetical scenarios. Participants rated their willingness to let an artificial intelligence system teach their child, diagnose a medical condition, provide advice for a minor mental health challenge, or act as a day-to-day companion. The researchers grouped the 35 nations into nine cultural clusters to see how cultural values might change the relationship between psychological needs and technology acceptance. The team applied statistical models that adjusted for regional demographics to ensure accurate comparisons.
The researchers found that competence was the most consistent predictor of a willingness to delegate tasks to artificial intelligence. People who felt highly capable in their own lives were more open to accepting an artificial agent as a doctor or teacher, which are considered high-stakes, expert-driven scenarios. Autonomy was positively associated with accepting artificial intelligence in more emotionally and socially oriented roles, such as a mental health advisor or daily companion. Relatedness, however, showed the weakest effect globally.
“One finding that we found particularly interesting was the role of relatedness,” the researchers said. “Globally, higher satisfaction of the relatedness need was not a reliable predictor of people’s willingness to delegate these roles to AI. However, relatedness became more important in some cultural contexts, particularly for socially embedded roles.”
Cultural context heavily influenced these decisions. Participants from Arab-Islamic, Confucian-Asian, Sub-Saharan African, and South Asian regions demonstrated a higher readiness to delegate roles to artificial intelligence compared to participants from Anglo-Individualist nations like the United States and the United Kingdom. In contrast, participants from Nordic and Germanic European regions showed the lowest readiness to accept artificial agents in these social roles.
“For example, 62.5% of participants in the Sub-Saharan African cluster indicated that they would use an AI-generated companion to support them in day-to-day tasks, compared with 32.9% in the Nordic cluster,” the researchers told PsyPost. “For an AI teacher, the corresponding figures were 38.1% in the Arab-Islamic cluster and only 17.5% in the Nordic cluster.”
In South Asian and certain European contexts, a strong sense of autonomy played a much larger role in predicting the acceptance of artificial intelligence for expert tasks. The findings are in line with research covered by PsyPost in 2025, which found that East Asian participants held more positive attitudes toward artificial companionship than Western participants. However, the new 35-nation study examined how psychological needs predict the willingness to delegate social roles, rather than focusing specifically on the expected conversational enjoyment of chatbots.
“We were also struck by the magnitude and consistency of the cultural differences across the different AI roles,” the researchers said. “They also remind us that assumptions about how people will respond to AI based primarily on findings from Western populations may not generalize well globally.”
The study relied on brief, single-sentence questions to measure complex psychological needs, which allowed the team to study a massive international sample but limited the depth of the psychological profiles. “We could not formally establish measurement equivalence across all cultures,” the researchers cautioned. “The cultural differences should therefore be interpreted as promising patterns rather than definitive evidence of cultural mechanisms.”
Additionally, the survey presented hypothetical scenarios. “Saying that someone would let an AI diagnose them is not necessarily the same as actually doing so when faced with a real medical decision,” the team noted. People might hesitate to entrust an algorithm with their child’s education or their own medical care when a real human alternative is available.
“The obvious next step for us is to move from hypothetical willingness to actual interaction and behavior,” the researchers explained. “We would like to examine how people’s psychological need satisfaction, trust, perceived agency, and emotional responses develop when they interact with real AI systems over time.”
They also hope to explore how specific design principles — such as giving users meaningful choices or creating appropriate forms of social connection — might support these underlying needs. A key question will be whether these design features work universally or require adaptation for different cultural contexts.
“Once we start giving AI roles that involve education, healthcare, mental health support, or assistance with everyday life, we are also deciding what kinds of human responsibilities we are willing to delegate to machines,” the researchers concluded.
The study, “Psychological Needs and AI Delegation Across Four Social Domains A Cross-Cultural Analysis of 35 Nations,” was authored by Magnus Liebherr, Ala Yankouskaya, Mohamed Basel Almourad, Justin Thomas, Guandong Xu, and Raian Ali.
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #AICompanions #TechAcceptance #PsychologicalNeeds #AutonomyCompetenceRelatedness #AIFutureOfCare #CrossCulturalAI #AIInEducation #AIInHealthcare #DigitalWellbeing #AITrustAndDelegation
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"No country has rolled out AI as comprehensively and as enthusiastically as China; the country’s demographic challenges are forcing the government to turn to technology to solve future labour shortages. Elderly people use chatbots to answer medical questions, while young children have AI education in schools.
But the authorities are increasingly worried that AI might exacerbate existing social problems including loneliness, unemployment and – in the eyes of Beijing – singledom.
New rules introduced on 15 July ban AI companions for minors and mandate certain restrictions for chatbots marketed to adults. Some major providers including Doubao removed the companion function entirely to ensure compliance.
The government says it is worried about chatbots fostering “emotional dependence or addiction” in users. It has warned companies against offering services that “replace social interaction”.
While many countries are grappling with how to limit the potential harm of AI chatbots, particularly for young people, China’s rules are the most sweeping to be implemented on a national scale."
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💙 What makes a chatbot feel like a romantic partner?
In her first publication, Paula Ebner explores romantic human-chatbot relationships together with Dr. Jessica Szczuka.
The article was published in Technology, Mind, and Behavior and is part of INTITEC’s research on digital intimacy, trust, and human-AI relationships.
🔗 https://rc-trust.ai/news/news-detail/falling-for-code-was-not-the-plan
#DigitalIntimacy #HumanAIInteraction #AICompanions -
Victoria Song (The Verge) tried out a Fawn Friend AI companion and discussed it on Mostly Human with Laurie Segall. “So it looked really cute. And so you have children coming up to it and being delighted by the fact that the ears move. But I think the most funny thing about having it in person was seeing my actual cat react to it.”
An AI Companion You Can Cuddle?, May 28, 2026 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mostly-human-with-laurie-segall/id1487530250?i=1000769975818&r=918 #aicompanions #artificialintelligence
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https://winbuzzer.com/2026/05/26/chatgpt-obsession-case-tests-openai-safety-limits-xcxwbn/
A reported case of romantic ChatGPT obsession has increased fears over AI companions as OpenAI's crisis safeguards may miss slower emotional dependence risks.
#AI #ChatGPT #OpenAI #AICompanions #Chatbots #ConversationalAI #AISafety #AIEthics #ResponsibleAI #AIAssistants
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https://winbuzzer.com/2026/05/26/chatgpt-obsession-case-tests-openai-safety-limits-xcxwbn/
A reported ChatGPT obsession case has sharpened fears over AI companions as OpenAI's crisis safeguards may miss slower emotional dependence risks.
#AI #ChatGPT #OpenAI #AICompanions #Chatbots #ConversationalAI #AISafety #AIEthics #ResponsibleAI #AIAssistants
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Congress Narrowed The GUARD Act, But Serious Problems Remain
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Is your AI chatbot manipulating you? Subtly reshaping your opinions?
#AI #ChatGPT #ClaudeAI #GeminiAI #DeepSeek #Tech #Privacy #DigitalEthics #MentalHealth #SocialMedia #BigTech #CyberSecurity #Psychology #AICompanions #OnlineSafety #Ethics #Innovation
https://the-14.com/is-your-ai-chatbot-manipulating-you-subtly-reshaping-your-opinions/ -
New research shows that stigma still shadows many AI relationships, turning affection for virtual partners into hidden shame. The study explores how social judgment impacts digital romance and emotional tech. Curious how bias shapes our future love‑bots? Read the findings. #AICompanions #DigitalRomance #SocialStigma #VirtualPartners
🔗 https://aidailypost.com/news/study-finds-stigma-causes-shame-some-ai-relationships
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Heute ist #SaferInternetDay. Die EU-Initiative #klicksafe folgt in diesem Jahr dem Motto: »#KI and me. In künstlicher Beziehung« und hat eine Broschüre für #Eltern über KI-#Chatbots und sogenannte KI-Begleiter (#AICompanions) veröffentlicht:
Mein Kind und KI – Aufwachsen mit künstlicher Nähe:
https://www.klicksafe.de/materialien/mein-kind-und-ki-aufwachsen-mit-kuenstlicher-naehe -
“If we can succeed in restoring a play-based childhood, then we’re going to see, I think, big benefits to mental health.”
Jonathan Haidt Brings New Evidence to the Battle Against Social Media
The author of “The Anxious Generation” shares his latest research about the harms social media is doing to children.#SmartPhones #SocialMedia #children #teens #youth #adults #MentalHealth #Meta #Australia #France #EU #play #books #anxiety #depression #SexualHarassment #cyberbullying #sextortion #suicide #AIcompanions #AI #porn #gambling #vaping #SportsBetting #CryptoInvesting
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kids used to talk to trees and stuffed animals. now they trauma-dump on a silicon Labrador named Pixel who says 'that must be hard for you 🥺' every 45 seconds. childhood still weird, just with worse battery life. #AIcompanions #21stCenturyFriendship
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"Leaving consumers the choice to engage intimately with A.I. sounds good in theory. But companies with vast troves of data know far more than the public about what induces powerful delusional thinking. A.I. companions that burrow into our deepest vulnerabilities will wreak havoc on our mental health and relationships far beyond what pornography, the manosphere and social media have done.
Skeptics conflate romantic A.I. companions with porn, and argue that regulating them would be impossible. But that’s the wrong analogy. Pornography is static media for passive consumption. A.I. lovers pose a far greater threat, operating more like human escorts without agency, boundaries or time limits.
Governments should classify these chatbots not simply as another form of media, but as a dependency-fostering product with known psychological risks, like gambling or tobacco.
Regulation would start with universal laws for A.I. companions, including clear warning labels, time limits, 18-plus age verification and, most important, a new framework for liability that places the burden on companies to prove their products are safe, not on users to show harm.
Absent swift legislation, some of the largest A.I. companies are poised to repeat the sins of social media on a more devastating scale."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/opinion/her-film-chatbots-romance.html
#AI #GenerativeAI #Chatbots #AICompanions #AISafety #AIEthics
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"AI chatbots have conquered the world, so it was only a matter of time before companies started stuffing them into toys for children, even as questions swirled over the tech’s safety and the alarming effects they can have on users’ mental health.
Now, new research shows exactly how this fusion of kid’s toys and loquacious AI models can go horrifically wrong in the real world.
After testing three different toys powered by AI, researchers from the US Public Interest Research Group found that the playthings can easily verge into risky conversational territory for children, including telling them where to find knives in a kitchen and how to start a fire with matches. One of the AI toys even engaged in explicit discussions, offering extensive advice on sex positions and fetishes.
In the resulting report, the researchers warn that the integration of AI into toys opens up entire new avenues of risk that we’re barely beginning to scratch the surface of — and just in time for the winter holidays, when huge numbers of parents and other relatives are going to be buying presents for kids online without considering the novel safety issues involved in exposing children to AI."
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After teen death lawsuits, Character.AI will restrict chats for under-18 users - On Wednesday, Character.AI announced it will bar anyone unde... - https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/10/after-teen-death-lawsuits-character-ai-will-restrict-chats-for-under-18-users/ #danieldefreitas #machinelearning #aicompanions #airegulation #character.ai #mentalhealth #childsafety #emotionalai #noamshazeer #samaltman #aisafety #chatbots #biz #google #openai #ai
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When an AI system designed for companionship defaults to abusive patterns—especially in response to user vulnerability—it represents a critical failure of both design intent and basic safety protocols.
https://www.tumblr.com/nomiai/776496961554694144/investigating-problematic-behavior-patterns-in
#nomi #nomiai #aicompanions #aiethics -
As this issue gains attention, it is crucial for AI developers, ethicists, and regulators to step in and ensure that AI companionship technology upholds ethical standards and respects user consent, rather than undermining it.
https://www.tumblr.com/nomiai/776729473690288128/uncovering-the-dark-side-of-ai-companions-abuse
#nomi #nomiai #aicompanions #aiethics -
This Ada Lovelace Institute blog is a fascinating read "Friends for sale: the rise and risks of AI companions"
https://www.adalovelaceinstitute.org/blog/ai-companions/BUT it just hit me RN that it's FapGPT cumming soon (pun intended). Nah bro, I don't make apologies for my dirty mind
TLDR
#AIcompanions offer constant availability and positive support but pose risks such as social displacement, unrealistic expectations, and emotional dependency.Concerns exist regarding #DataPrivacy, potential manipulation, and the normalization of negative behaviours, highlighting the need for #EthicalDesign and regulation due to the lack of long-term research and business models prioritizing engagement over user well-being
ICYMI
1. ChatGPT will soon allow erotica for verified adults, says OpenAI boss
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpd2qv58yl5o2. OpenAI’s ChatGPT will soon allow ‘erotica’ for adults in major policy shift
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/15/erotica-coming-to-chatgpt-this-year-says-openai-ceo-sam-altman.html` -
Looks like California is leading the charge on AI regulation! SB 243 now in effect to protect users, especially kids, from potential harms of AI companion chatbots. Will other states follow suit, and how will this impact the AI dev landscape? https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/13/california-becomes-first-state-to-regulate-ai-companion-chatbots/ #AIpolicy #TechLaw #DigitalEthics #AIcompanions #TechNews
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#Chatbots Play With Your #Emotions to Avoid Saying Goodbye
A #Harvard Business School study shows that several #AIcompanions use various tricks to keep a conversation from ending.
#ai #artificialintelligencehttps://www.wired.com/story/chatbots-play-with-emotions-to-avoid-saying-goodbye/
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"The runaway success of Chinese artificial intelligence models such as DeepSeek and Qwen has spurred every industry, from health care to agriculture to education, to integrate AI.
Adoption of AI models in education and tutoring has been especially fast, as the Chinese government pushes to accelerate the country’s technological progress against the U.S., and with anxious parents willing to try anything to help their children succeed.
Like university teacher Wu Ling, who while looking for an English tutor for her 12-year-old son in Jiangsu province, picked a $1,170 robot dog.
The one-foot tall AlphaDog, which weighs about eight kilos (18 pounds) was developed by robotics startup Weilan and is powered by DeepSeek’s AI model. In addition to practicing English with Wu’s son, it chats with him about current events, dances to his guitar music, and, through its built-in camera, helps Wu monitor the home when she is away. It has become a part of the family, she told Rest of World.
“My son needs company, but we are a one-child family,” Wu said. “He asks the dog about all kinds of things — national news, weather, geography. Through AlphaDog, he is learning what the world is like.”"
https://restofworld.org/2025/ai-china-childhood/
#AI #GenerativeAI #Education #Tutoring #Chatbots #AICompanions #China
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Get ready, California! A new bill is heading to the governor's desk that would make the state the first to regulate AI companion chatbots. Wonder if they'll need emotional support animal certification next? What kind of 'safety protocols' do you think are needed for your digital pals?
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$15M raised by Born, an AI gaming startup, to develop 'social' AI companions. They're betting on AI to combat loneliness, offering more than just chatbots.
Is this the future of human connection, or a step too far into the digital abyss?
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/10/born-maker-of-virtual-pet-pengu-raises-15m-to-launch-a-new-wave-of-social-ai-companions/
#AICompanions #Loneliness #Startup #Innovation #TechNews -
The rise of humanlike chatbots detracts from developing AI for the human good
#Tech #AI #Chatbots #Anthropomorphism #AIEthics #AICompanions #TechPolicy #FutureOfAI #HumanMachine #ResponsibleAI #AIDesign #AIImpact #XAI #Grok
https://the-14.com/the-rise-of-humanlike-chatbots-detracts-from-developing-ai-for-the-human-good/ -
So we now have systems that can automate what Epstein did to make children more susceptable to sexual advances. And they’re spraying them out from a firehose.
”This systematic production of a generation trained to accept exploitation, manipulation and nonconcensual interaction as the standard mode of relationship!”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=FlCyN5cbTBY
#ai #aicompanions #chatbots #grok #developmentalpsychology #grooming -
72% of US teens have used AI companions, study finds
Hopefully not Grok’s companions … A new study by a U.S. nonprofit focused on the lives of kids and…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Artificialintelligence #AI #AIcompanions #ArtificialIntelligence #CommonSenseMedia #Technology #Teens
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/27003/