AI as a Source of Emotional Support & Companionship

Young people don’t necessarily have to trust the technology to turn to it for advice—they just need to perceive it as less risky than confiding in another person. Turning to a human is scary, it’s vulnerable, and you’re afraid of their judgment and emotional reactivity. But big emotional events are a hallmark of the human experience … so it makes a lot of sense for young people to search for a place where those big emotions have a safe place to land and where they can make meaning of it. -Inside Higher Ed