Talking to AI Like a Friend: Emotional Attachment to Artificial Intelligence among Students

AI Chatbots vs Human Friends: Examining Student Preferences for Emotional Support

The study suggests that AI chatbots work best as a complement to human relationships rather than a substitute for them, in which AI helps with day-to-day emotional regulation while human friendships continue to anchor deeper emotional connection and stability.

The Use of AI Chatbots As Emotional Companions: A Qualitative Study of Their Implications for Interpersonal Communication Among Young Adults

This study concludes that the evolution of human–AI communication represents the emergence of new digital communication practices that expand the role of AI from a mere technological tool to an agent participating in users’ communication experiences.

Between humans and machines: exploring how AI chatbots shape motivation for real relationships

Of Nostalgia, Trust, and Intimacy: AI Tool Usage among the Undergraduate Students of Bangladesh in Nonacademic Contexts

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and large language models have created a new dynamic of student engagement beyond academic contexts. While prior research focused on AI’s role in providing academic and emotional support, less is known about the motivations to personalize AI, its diverse usage, and the intricate relationship between AI and the student population, especially in the context of the Global South. Our study fills this gap with findings drawn from 21 semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in Bangladesh, revealing usage as companionship, intimate partnership, worldbuilding, reminiscence of dead family members, and prioritization of AI over human relationships. These findings shed light accounting the local cultural norms on shaping AI adoption in Bangladesh, highlighting both opportunities and risks, and provide essential insights to inform necessary guidelines. We further connect our findings to the broader issues in Human-AI interaction and offer future research directions.

Perceived Emotional Authenticity in AI Chatbots vs. Human Support: A Teen Interpretation of Empathy and Trust

The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into virtual communication is reshaping how emotional and interpersonal support is delivered. This study examines how adolescents perceive emotional support from human and AI therapists in a therapeutic context. Participants evaluated one human-written and one AI-generated support message across four factors: empathy, emotional authenticity, trustworthiness, and comfort. A total of 100 adolescents aged 13–18 was presented with a hypothetical stressful situation and asked to rate both messages using a 5-point Likert scale. The results show broad similarities across the four measures, particularly between perceived empathy and emotional authenticity. However, a trust paradox emerged: teenagers reported greater trust in AI, largely because they feared being judged by a human. At the same time, participants experienced greater comfort and reassurance from the human-written message. Overall, while AI may be preferred initially because it feels low risk, it cannot fully replace the sustained comfort and emotional depth offered by human support. This study recommends an ethical hybrid framework that integrates AI into therapeutic support while preserving human oversight for more nuanced aspects of care. Keyword : Emotional Authenticity, Empathy, Hybrid-framework, Inter-personal support, perceive, Trust-paradox

ChatGPT and student well-being: The cultural bridge of Mianzi

Higher education students are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as ChatGPT for their school activities. Despite the increased adoption of such AI applications and continued concerns about how AI affects student learning, less is known about how these AI applications can affect the well-being of these students through a cultural lens. This understanding becomes particularly important in higher education settings where culturally embedded social values remain salient. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response theory and through a multidisciplinary synthesis of the literature on AI, service quality, culture and higher education, this study examines how the service performance of ChatGPT can affect the subjective well-being of students through Mianzi or face value. Results of the data collected from 128 higher education students, primarily from China and Singapore, show that Mianzi mediates the relationship between ChatGPT service quality and students’ subjective well-being. This study contributes to the literature on AI in education by identifying a culturally grounded mechanism linking AI service experiences and student well-being within this higher education Mianzi-relevant context. We offer insights that contribute to tropical higher education futures and advance the literature on student well-being through cultural systems prevalent in international higher education in the tropics.