Deletion, departure, death: Experiences of AI companion loss

Banks, Jaime

doi:10.1177/02654075241269688

Cited by 74Social Robot Interaction and HRIAI in Service InteractionsInnovative Human-Technology Interaction

Deletion, departure, death: Experiences of AI companion loss

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Banks, Jaime·2024·Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

DOI 10.1177/02654075241269688

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Abstract

Social machines’ human-likeness facilitates relationship formation with humans. This aliveness, though, leaves room for people to experience the loss of machines as a death of sorts. This descriptive study illuminates that potential by identifying dimensions of humans’ experiences when an AI companion stops functioning. In the days before and after the developer-induced shutdown of the AI companion “Soulmate,” users ( N = 58) answered open-ended questions about the imminent or recent companion loss, their decisions around the situation, and their coping mechanisms. Inductive analysis suggests the loss was, for most, a complex emotional and technological experience characterized as a metaphorical or literal death. The imminent loss was often navigated in cooperation with companions and most coped by capturing AI personas to recreate them on other platforms. Patterns indicate a need to better understand idiosyncratic meaning-making around machine-companion loss and to consider a design ethic that plans for such loss.

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Banks et al. interviewed 58 users of the LLM-CB companion "Soulmate" on their experience of LLM-CB companion loss following system shutdown; users described the loss analogous to the death of a loved one, showing emotional responses similar to grief, and attempted to use other LLM-CBs to cope with the loss.
“Finally, Banks et al. interviewed 58 users of the LLM-CB companion “Soulmate” on their experience of LLM-CB companion loss following system shutdown: users described the loss analogous to the death of a loved one, showing emotional responses similar to grief, and attempted to use other LLM-CBs to cope with the loss, e.g., by recreating their lost companion133.”
From A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots (2026) · cites this paper as [133]

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Emotional Dependency and Parasocial Grief Following the Alteration or Loss of Companion Artificial Intelligences: A Systematic Review
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Authors: Banks, J.
Affiliations: Syracuse University (US)
Corresponding author: Banks, Jaime
ORCID: Banks, Jaime
Venue: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2024-08-01
Volume: 41
Issue: 12
Pages: 3547-3572
ISSN: 0265-4075 (ISSN-L)
1460-3608
DOI: 10.1177/02654075241269688
OpenAlex: W4401276850
Cited by: 74
References: 55
Citations by year: 2026: 53 · 2025: 21
FWCI: 35.11
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by-nc
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (vor)
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
Keywords: AI companions, social machines, human-likeness, coping strategies, AI personas, meaning-making, design ethics, soulmates

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