Meilan Hu, a psychology researcher from Singapore Management University, explored whether modern AI chatbots could support people in emotional crises. Her findings suggest that they can, but with limitations.
Hu’s idea is intriguing: could AI chatbots help process emotions? “AI chatbots are advanced enough to give human-like responses,” Hu explained in an interview with Psypost. This led her to question if they could serve as an alternative for individuals to process their emotions.
Hu’s focus was not on a therapeutic approach but rather on using AI chatbots as a kind of outlet, allowing people to express their frustrations and fears. She published her findings in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.
“I always found it comforting to talk to someone who listens and validates feelings,” Hu said, explaining the hypothesis that guided her research. “However, given the increasing loneliness across all age groups, many may not have access to a trusted, non-judgmental person to talk to.”
To test her hypothesis, Hu and her colleagues recruited 150 students and randomly divided them into two groups. One group interacted with an “empathetic” AI chatbot, while the other wrote their problems in a journal.
After a one-week break, the roles were switched, with the chatbot group keeping a journal and vice versa. After each session, participants answered questions about their feelings, particularly evaluating loneliness, stress, and perceived social support.
As Hu suspected, students reported fewer negative emotions of medium and high arousal, like anxiety and anger, after AI chatbot sessions compared to journaling. Hu attributes this to the chatbot’s personalized real-time responses, which seemed to work well as a release valve.
However, Hu’s team found little difference between chatbot interactions and journaling when addressing lower arousal negative emotions like sadness. Chatbots were also less helpful in reducing feelings of loneliness or increasing perceived social support.
“Even though they can’t replace the depth of connection from human interactions, our results show that venting feelings like anger or anxiety to AI chatbots can be effective,” Hu concluded. “This makes AI chatbots a valuable tool for temporary emotional relief, especially when someone just needs to talk.”
It is important to note that the study did not focus on therapeutic approaches. There was no investigation or indication that empathy-trained chatbots could “heal” negative emotions.