06/06/25

What Does It Mean To Have A Chatbot Companion?

17:14 minutes

A 3-d animated emo girl standing in front of a text screen.
A screenshot from the site Replika, which creates a custom chatbot that mirrors the user.

AI is not just for automating tasks or coming up with new recipe ideas. Increasingly, people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship. Roughly half a billion people worldwide have downloaded chatbots designed specifically to provide users with emotional and social support. And while these human-chatbot relationships might ease loneliness or simply be fun to have, these digital friends can also cause real harm by encouraging dangerous or inappropriate behavior—especially in children or teens.

To explore the emerging world of AI companion chatbots, Host Flora Lichtman is joined by freelance science reporter David Adam, who recently wrote about the effect of AI companions on mental health for Nature magazine; and Rose Guingrich, a psychology researcher studying interactions between humans and AI at Princeton University.

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Segment Guests

David Adam

David Adam is a freelance science reporter based in London.

Rose Guingrich

Rose Guingrich is a researcher in the department of psychology at Princeton University.

Segment Transcript

The transcript is being processed. It will be available 2-3 days after this story’s publication date.

Meet the Producers and Host

About Shoshannah Buxbaum

Shoshannah Buxbaum is a producer for Science Friday. She’s particularly drawn to stories about health, psychology, and the environment. She’s a proud New Jersey native and will happily share her opinions on why the state is deserving of a little more love.

About Flora Lichtman

Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.

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