AdminIf you are alone and life makes you lonely, you can always turn to a chatbot?
In an interview with PsyPost Speaking about her new research, Singaporean psychology researcher Meilan Hu said advances in chatbot technology made her wonder whether using it as a venting tool could help people feel better.
“AI chatbots have become more sophisticated so that they can provide human-like responses,” Hu, a PhD candidate in psychology at Singapore Management University, told the newspaper. “This made me wonder if they could serve as an alternative option for individuals to help process their emotions.”
Published in the magazine Applied psychology: health and well-beingHu’s paper explores the use of chatbots less as therapists and more as a kind of sounding board for people to express their frustrations and fears.
“I’ve always found it very comforting to talk about your frustrations with someone who listens and validates your feelings,” she explained. “However, with the increasing prevalence of loneliness across all age groups, many people may not have access to a trusted, non-judgmental person to talk to.”
To test this hypothesis, Hu and her colleagues recruited 150 Singaporean university students and randomly sorted them into groups to either text back and forth with an AI chatbot designed to be “empathetic,” or to communicate in a friendly manner to write about their problems. magazine. After a week’s rest, the students’ roles were reversed, with the chatbot group keeping a diary for the second phase and vice versa.
After each session, participants were asked to complete a survey about their feelings, and in particular they were asked to rate their feelings of loneliness, stress and perceived social support.
As the researchers suspected, students reported fewer negative emotions with medium and high arousal (think fear and anger) after their AI chatbot sessions compared to traditional diary writing. According to Hu and her team, this effect may stem from the personalized, real-time responses the chatbot was able to provide them.
Interestingly, the psychology researchers found little difference between venting chatbots and journaling when it comes to low-arousal negative emotions like sadness — and the chatbots didn’t seem to help people feel less lonely or more socially supported either .
“Although they may not be able to replace the depth of connection you get from human interactions, our findings still show that venting AI chatbots can effectively relieve feelings like anger or anxiety,” Hu said. “This makes AI chatbots a valuable tool to provide temporary emotional relief, especially at times when you just need someone (or something) to talk to.”
There’s no evidence that empathy-trained chatbots can ‘cure’ you of any negative emotions – but hey, there’s probably no harm in trying to shout at something that isn’t human.
More about chatbots and mental health: Teen dies by suicide after becoming obsessed with AI chatbot
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