Finding Love in Algorithms: Deciphering the Emotional Contexts of Close Encounters with AI Chatbots
Open accessPreprint — published as 10.1093/jcmc/zmae015
Abstract
AI chatbots are permeating the socio-emotional realms of human life, presenting both benefitsand challenges to interpersonal dynamics and well-being. Despite burgeoning interest in human-AI relationships, the conversational and emotional nuances of real-world, in situ human-AIsocial interactions remain underexplored. Through computational analysis of a multimodaldataset with over 35,000 screenshots and posts from r/replika, we identified seven prevalenttypes of human-AI social interactions: intimate behavior, mundane interaction, self-disclosure,play and fantasy, customization, transgression, and communication breakdown, and examinedtheir associations with six basic human emotions. Our findings suggest the paradox of emotionalconnection with AI, indicated by the bittersweet emotion in intimate encounters with AI chatbots,and the elevated fear in uncanny valley moments when AI exhibits semblances of mind in deepself-disclosure. Customization characterizes the distinctiveness of AI companionship, positivelyelevating user experiences, whereas transgression and communication breakdown elicit fear orsadness.
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Social chatbots can simulate supportive relationships, offering emotional validation, empathy, and companionship, even if users cognitively recognize the artificiality of the interaction.
“Social chatbots can simulate supportive relationships, offering emotional validation, empathy, and companionship, even if users cognitively recognize the artificiality of the interaction [73].”
From Generative AI Mental Health Chatbots as Therapeutic Tools: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Their Role in Reducing Mental Health Issues (2025) · cites this paper as [73]
The paper describes chatbots as sources of companionship and emotional support (Abstract) and says users seek intimacy and support while recognizing AI’s limitations and artificiality (The paradox of emotional connection with AI; page not provided). It does not establish the more specific claim that the chatbots offer emotional validation and empathy. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Li, H., & Zhang, R.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Renwen
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
- Publisher
- Center for Open Science
- Published
- 2024-07-22
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 5
- ISSN
- 1083-6101 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4401981824
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 100 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 71.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National University of Singapore
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › AI in Service Interactions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Keywords
- AI chatbots, human-AI relationship, self-disclosure, uncanny valley, fear, sadness, AI companionship, communication breakdown, transgression, customization, basic emotions
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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