In the context of artificial intelligence becoming increasingly popular, many people, especially young people, are starting to turn to chatbots as a way to share emotions and reduce loneliness.
However, a new study shows that talking to people, including strangers, is still more effective.
Platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Character. AI are gradually becoming familiar "friends" in digital life.
Not only supporting study and work, these chatbots are also used by many people as a channel for confiding.
However, this trend has also faced much controversy as there are concerns about the negative impact on behavior and social relationships.
The study conducted by the University of British Columbia has provided an additional noteworthy perspective. Accordingly, the research group followed about 300 first-year students in the first two weeks of enrollment, which is a period that easily gives rise to feelings of isolation.
Students are divided into many groups: one group texts randomly with classmates every day, one group chats with chatbots on the Discord online communication platform, and the other group writes short diaries.
The results showed that students who talked to real people reduced feelings of loneliness by 9%. Meanwhile, the group using chatbots only decreased by about 2%, equivalent to the group writing a journal. Although the frequency of interaction between groups was almost equivalent, the psychological effectiveness was significantly different.
Researchers said they chose first-year students because this is a time of many fluctuations, easily making people feel lost. The goal is to test whether AI can replace the role of social connection in sensitive periods. However, the results show that chatbots are unlikely to replace human interaction.
According to Ruo-Ning Li, one of the research authors, talking to AI can help improve mood in the short term. However, this positive feeling does not last long and is not enough to replace real relationships.
Previously, another study conducted by MIT Media Lab and OpenAI also gave a similar conclusion. Although chatbots can help users feel comfortable at first, overusing is associated with higher levels of loneliness, dependence and reduced social communication skills.
Experts believe that AI may be a useful support tool, but should not become a "replacement" for real relationships.
Maintaining connections with people, whether friends or casual conversations, still plays an important role in mental health.
