When AI companions for lonely people seem a bit too human

Imagine a future in which lonely people can interact with social bots, based on artificial intelligence (AI), to get the conversations and connection they crave. While it sounds intriguing, a small preliminary study suggests people may not be comfortable with AI companions that look and talk too much like real humans. "We think it may seem a little too creepy to have these embodied robots that act and look almost human," said Kelly Merrill Jr., lead author of the study and a doctoral student in communication at The Ohio State University. "People seemed to be more comfortable with AI companions that were voice-based, more like smartphones and smart speakers like Alexa or Siri." Merrill conducted the study with Jihyun Kim of the University of Central Florida and Chad Collins of St. Johns River State College.