Key points

People are increasingly developing deep emotional connections to AI chatbots.

Such attachments can be explained by loneliness, anthropomorphism, narcissism, and transference.

AI chatbots are said to "mirror" users, but spending too much time looking into a mirror can be unhealthy.

I was recently interviewed for an article on the emotional connection that people can develop with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots. 1 Here's an edited summary of the exchange.

As a psychiatrist, what do you think about people building emotional dependence on a chatbot or seeing it as an additional friend/companion in their lives? Is this healthy or unhealthy behavior?

Joe Pierre: Mark Zuckerberg has declared that people have a significant loneliness problem and that AI can fill the v

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