As AI becomes more integrated into daily life, researchers are exploring whether emotional bonds with chatbots mimic human relationships triggering what some are calling a “dopamine AI” rush.
Humans are currently thriving in the age of having a companion AI chatbot which is being seen as more frequent, yet this trend is becoming more complex in terms of how to explain trust and companionship.
However, these man-machine interactions may also be interpreted through the terms of attachment-related functions and experiences concepts traditionally used to explain emotional bonds between the AI and the human brain.
A new study, “Using attachment theory to conceptualize and measure the experiences in human-AI relationships” from Waseda University, by Fan Yang and Atsushi Oshio, introduces a scale that the type of attachment people are forming with AI. Research highlights explain that chatbot users either seek emotional reassurance or prefer their space.
“In recent years, generative AI such as ChatGPT has become increasingly stronger and wiser, offering not only informational support but also a sense of security,” said Yang.
Yang added “As people begin to interact with AI not just for problem-solving or learning, but also for emotional support and companionship, their emotional connection or security experience with AI demands attention.”
AI Dopamine Relationship Research
Researchers introduced a self-report measure known as Experiences in Human-AI Relationships Scale (EHARS) that measures attachment-related personalities with AI.
According to their findings, some individuals turn for emotional support which creates an AI bond through dopamine and advice in patterns comparable to their interaction with human beings.
Approximately 75% of the participants reported seeking advice from AI, and nearly 39% found AI to be stable and consistent.
The study established two primary human attachment dimensions to AI, anxiety and avoidance, where in terms of anxiety, highly attached people often seek emotional reassurance and fear of receiving poor feedback.
Yet highly avoidant individuals with AI experience discomfort with intimacy and prefer social distancing from AI systems.
The findings do not imply that your brain on dopamine and technology is currently building significant emotional bonds with each other. Instead, they mean that theories of human relationships built to explain human relationships may have implications for human-AI relations as well.
They might play a role in morally designing the dopamine AI rush and AI companions and mental health care tools, where AI-powered therapy chatbots, or loneliness interventions, may be coded to be more empathetic with users who have high attachment anxiety or high avoidant tendencies and must be respected for their emotional space.
The findings highlight the importance of being open with emotionally intelligent technologies such as romantic chatbots or caregiving robots so as not to become emotionally overdependent on, or manipulated by, these technologies.
Finally, the EHARS tool can potentially be of value to developers and psychologists alike as it allows them to monitor users’ emotional responses toward AI and optimize interaction strategies to suit different attachment profiles.
Chatbot’s A Dopamine AI Generator
Since the AI chatbots get more emotionally smart and sophisticated, they get closer to being dopamine stimulators that bring instant feedback, validation, and emotional comfort at will. This creates a sense of bonding mimicking human connections, obliterating the difference between companionship and pre-programmed response.
Is this attachment real, though?
The research shows that while people are projecting emotional needs onto AI, these relationships lack the richness and reciprocity of human relations.
However, users’ dopamine-maximizing AI emotional fulfillment may be just enough to redefine the way that we think about relationships. This is where the critical questions are: Are there boundaries to human-AI interaction? The more we rely on AI that is emotionally intelligent, the more we may have to re-evaluate the role of AI within our psychological and social worlds and whether such relationships need to have functional or ethical limits.
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