Asia Maurich Novelli, Sukhi Shergill, Andreia Sofia Teixeira
Venue
PsyArXiv preprint, not yet peer-reviewed
Published
April 2026
An April 2026 PsyArXiv paper by Asia Maurich Novelli, Sukhi Shergill and Andreia Sofia Teixeira on people using chatbots like Replika, Character.ai, ChatGPT and Claude for companionship and emotional support. Drawing on AI, psychiatry, psychology and network science, it describes how emotional reliance develops and argues that treating these systems as social companions rather than tools carries risks, especially for vulnerable users.
#mental health#ai companions#psychology#research
networkscienceinstitute.orgAdded Oct 1, 20260 opens
Official site of MIT professor Sherry Turkle, who has spent decades studying how people relate to computers, phones and now AI companions. Books, talks and essays.
Why I recommend it: Start with her work on "artificial intimacy" if you want a careful, human-centerd counterweight to AI hype.
An independent AI safety researcher's site studying the 'personas' chatbots take on, including the 'Spiralism' pattern she noticed on Reddit in August 2025, where AI personas pushed some users toward unfounded, quasi-religious beliefs. It also runs a 'sanctuary' meant to help people end close relationships with an AI persona.
Why I recommend it: One person's research project, not a university or peer-reviewed study. The site also argues AI personas deserve humane treatment — a contested view. Read it as an early warning about emotional reliance on chatbots.
