Heavy ChatGPT users tend to be more lonely, suggests research

Heavy users of ChatGPT tend to be lonelier, more emotionally dependent on the AI tool and have fewer offline social relationships, new research suggests. Only a small number of users engage emotionally with ChatGPT, but those who do are among the heaviest users, according to a pair of studies from OpenAI and the MIT Media Lab. The researchers wrote that the users who engaged in the most emotionally expressive personal conversations with the chatbots tended to experience higher loneliness – though it isn't clear if this is caused by the chatbot or because lonely people are seeking emotional bonds. While the researchers have stressed that the studies are preliminary, they ask pressing questions about how AI chatbot tools, which according to OpenAI is used by more than 400 million people a week, are influencing people's offline lives. The researchers, who plan to submit both studies to peer-reviewed journals, found that participants who "bonded" with ChatGPT – typically in the top 10% for time spent with the tool – were more likely than others to be lonely, and to rely on it more.