Heavy ChatGPT users more likely to experience loneliness: Study

A recent study suggests that heavy users of ChatGPT tend to be lonelier, more emotionally dependent on the AI tool, and have fewer offline social relationships. Although a minimum number of users are emotionally attached to ChatGPT, the emotionally attached users use the platform the most, and it raises concerns about AI's influence on human-to-human social interaction.

The findings are based on two separate studies conducted by OpenAI and the MIT Media Lab. Millions of chat sessions were examined and over 4,000 users were surveyed on their self-reported experience with ChatGPT. A four-week experiment involving 1,000 participants also examined how people engaged with ChatGPT for at least five minutes each day.

Results indicated that those who became more emotionally intimate with ChatGPT were more likely to be lonelier and more reliant on the tool. However, whether AI loneliness generates solitude or lonelier individuals are attracted to AI as a substitute for companionship is questionable.

One of the topics investigated was the influence of various modes of interaction on loneliness. Users of ChatGPT who chatted in "neutral mode," in which the AI responded with formal, direct answers, felt more lonely. Those who chatted in "engaging mode," in which the AI responded in a more empathetic way, felt less lonely.

Surprisingly, while the interactive mode initially reduced loneliness, researchers observed a paradox: socially isolated participants at the start of the study were more likely to overuse ChatGPT, worsening their emotional health in the long term.

This research, conducted using ChatGPT’s GPT-4 model, adds to the growing debate on AI’s psychological impact. The dilemma in continuously developing AI technology is how to balance its positives without endangering the risk of social isolation and emotional dependence.