Does Interacting with an Artificially Intelligent Companion Enhance Our Social Experiences? Preliminary Longitudinal Evidence

Artificially intelligent (AI) companions—virtual chatbots designed to stimulate human-like conversation—have amassed more than 700 million users across various platforms since 2014. Among this growth, little is known about their impact on users’ social experiences, especially over time. In a novel longitudinal study, heterosexual men (N = 57) interacted with a customizable AI companion via the Replika application for at least one hour a week for six weeks. Here, I test how interacting with an AI companion influences social experiences—both objective (e.g., quantity of in-person interactions) and subjective (e.g., feelings of loneliness)—from baseline (Week 0) to endpoint (Week 6). Results reveal that loneliness significantly decreased across the study period. However, there were no significant changes in motivation to socialize, generally, and with women, specifically, as well as no significant change in the quantity or satisfaction with the number of in-person interactions. Although more work is needed, this preliminary work suggests AI companions may be a promising path to reduce loneliness among heterosexual men. In future studies, we suggest an increased sample size and experimental control group and underscore the critical importance of continued research in this realm to ensure we develop ethical AI systems to support the well-being of human users.