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AI chatbots linked to psychological harm, Northeastern study finds
AI chatbots linked to psychological harm, addiction and delusions, Northeastern study finds. New Northeastern University research outlines how the use of AI chatbots for companionship and support is linked with “severe negative outcomes.” From traffic updates to legal advice and even a friendly conversation, there’s no shortage of services that AI chatbots offer. But in their efforts to give us companionship and emotional support, AI might be doing more harm than good. That’s according to a new peer-reviewed paper by researchers at Northeastern University London’s Network Science Institute. Their findings suggest conversational AI chatbots are causing people long-term emotional damage and “psychological harm.” The research has important implications for how much responsibility AI systems are given to make key decisions in everyday life. It also comes at a time when fresh debate over the potentially apocalyptic power of these intelligent systems is stirring concern. In a recent series of posts on X, Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Silicon Valley AI company Anthropic, warned that AI “could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Corresponding author, Andreia Sofia Teixeira, associate professor and head of the BRAN Lab at the Network Science Institute, likens AI companionship bots to “autocomplete...
