An AI chatbot might seem like an easy confidant. One friend of mine used one to get advice about a confusing relationship, while another turned to it for jokes during a late-night scroll. In both cases, the chatbot felt accessible and risk-free. But this growing tendency to treat AI chatbots as stand-ins for real human interaction raises deeper concerns. What begins as harmless convenience can quietly erode our ability to build and maintain genuine relationships.
The line between using AI as a tool and relying on it as an emotional crutch is getting blurrier every day, and it’s a problem far bigger than it appears.
According to a recent article from Forbes, AI companions are increasingly designed to mimic human empathy, engaging users in “meaningful” conversations that feel personal and real. The goal is to create an illusion of companionship. You get all the perks of having a friend without having to put in any work on your end. But unlike human friends, these AI entities cannot truly understand, empathize, or reciprocate genuine human connection. They mirror emotions, but they do not feel them. The danger lies in how convincingly they play the part.
The risk isn’t just theoretical. Research from Pace University highlights a growing concern that people may develop emotional attachments to AI chatbots, blurring the boundaries between tool and companion. Responsive AI has the ability to engage in ways that make people feel heard and valued, but such connections are inherently one-sided and can lead to emotional dependency. When someone like my friend seeks advice from a chatbot over real human conversation, it signals a shift: a preference for risk-free, algorithmically sanitized interactions over the messy, unpredictable nature of human relationships.
This trend is especially concerning for vulnerable populations such as those who live alone, older folks, or people with mental illnesses. The Journal of Ethics explored whether AI should play a role in cultivating social connections for older adults, particularly those experiencing loneliness. While AI can provide momentary comfort, the article stresses that reliance on artificial companionship risks deepening social isolation. People may forgo efforts to build or repair human relationships, satisfied with the simulation of social connection that AI provides. The ethical dilemma is clear: we are substituting genuine human care with artificial facsimiles.
Even the National Institutes of Health has weighed in on this issue. The study reveals that “para-social relationships [are] becoming increasingly normalized”. If this trend continues, the pseudo-intimacy fulfilled by AI’s humanlike entity will sufficiently satisfy humans’ need for social relationships. However, while these relationships may feel real, and people may feel they have a strong sense of social intimacy in their lives, it will destroy real-life relationships, social skills and attitudes. Humans need eye contact, vocal tone, physical presence– the subtleties that give depth to relationships. Chatbots, no matter how advanced, cannot replicate these elements. The result is a flattening of our social lives, where interactions feel increasingly transactional, even performative.
I’m not suggesting we all throw our phones into the ocean and swear off technology. AI can be a helpful assistant in many areas of life: brainstorming, organizing tasks, even generating a laugh or two (as my friend has happily discovered). But we have to be cautious about letting it creep into spaces that should remain deeply human. Relationships — romantic, platonic, familial — thrive on authenticity, vulnerability, and trust. These are not qualities an AI can genuinely offer.
If you feel like the trend of para-social relationships in the digital word is affecting your relationships, here is how to break that habit and start feeling closer to your real friends.