As Artificial Intelligence gets smarter and more conversational through a variety of models like ChatGPT, usage of them could lead to an increased feeling of loneliness.
That's one of the takeaways from a pair of studies into increased chatbot usage conducted by ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, and the MIT Media Lab. And while neither have been peer-reviewed as yet, it's interesting that both came to similar conclusions.
OpenAI's part of the study analyzed "over 40 million ChatGPT interactions", while MIT leveraged different input methods to assess how chatbots can affect a user's emotions.
What we learned
According to MIT's study, more usage of ChatGPT (and ChatGPT specifically) can lead to "heightened loneliness and reduced socialization," but it also found that study participants with deeper trust in ChatGPT would grow more emotionally dependent on it.
Curiously, despite the more "personal" feel of voice mode, the possibility of becoming emotionally dependant on the tool was lessened when ChatGPT spoke. This was, perhaps unsurprisingly, more pronounced when ChatGPT adopted a neutral tone, as opposed to using an accent or adopting a persona.
Given the prevalence of text-based communication, it's possible users of the chatbot are more likely to develop an attachment to text to a psudo-human AI voice that breaks the illusion.
"Emotionally expressive interactions were present in a large percentage of usage for only a small group of the heavy Advanced Voice Mode users we studied," OpenAI's study noted, suggesting even though it is possible to get attached to ChatGPT, it's still not all that common.
It bears repeating that neither study has been peer reviewed yet, and both cover relatively short periods.
But as OpenAI notes in the study's introduction: "This research provides a starting point for further studies that can increase transparency, and encourage responsible usage and development of AI platforms across the industry."
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