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AI emotional support shifts user preference over time, study finds

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A study involving nearly 2,000 participants found that while AI emotional support is perceived as superior when individuals choose it, interacting with AI can still shift preferences towards it even when not initially chosen. Over 28 days, daily conversations with AI, particularly personal ones, led participants to favor AI over human support, indicating a path-dependent redirection away from human connection. AI

IMPACT Suggests AI's growing influence in personal support, potentially altering human connection dynamics.

RANK_REASON Academic paper detailing research findings on AI interaction. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]

Read on arXiv cs.AI →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

AI emotional support shifts user preference over time, study finds

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Academic paper detailing research findings on AI interaction. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Yaoxi Shi, Cathy Mengying Fang, Guy LabanPattie Maes, Amit Goldenberg ·

    AI emotional support is better only when chosen, but shifts preferences even when it is not

    arXiv:2608.23196v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: People increasingly face a novel decision when seeking emotional support: human or AI. In existing studies, AI's empathic messages are rated as well as or better than humans'. But these studies either assigned the support source or …

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