Why Most Resist AI Companions

32 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2025

See all articles by Julian De Freitas

Julian De Freitas

Harvard Business School

Zeliha Uğuralp

Bilkent University

Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp

Bilkent University

Stefano Puntoni

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Date Written: January 04, 2025

Abstract

Chatbots are now able to form emotional relationships with people and alleviate loneliness—a growing public health concern. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether everyday people are likely to use these applications and why. We address this question by focusing on the context of “AI companion” applications, designed to provide people with synthetic interaction partners. Study 1 shows that people believe AI companions are more capable than human companions in advertised respects relevant to relationships (being more available and non-judgmental). Even so, they view them as incapable of realizing the underlying values of relationships, like mutual caring, judging them as not ‘true’ relationships. Study 2 provides further insight into this belief: people believe relationships with AI companions are one-sided (rather than mutual), because they see AI as incapable of understanding and feeling emotion. Study 3 finds that interacting with an AI companion increases acceptance by changing beliefs about the AI’s advertised capabilities, but not about its ability to achieve the true values of relationships, demonstrating the resilience of this belief against intervention. In short, despite the potential loneliness-reducing benefits of AI companions, we uncover fundamental psychological barriers to adoption, suggesting these benefits will not be easily realized.

Keywords: generative AI, chatbots, artificial intelligence, algorithm aversion, loneliness

Suggested Citation

De Freitas, Julian and Uğuralp, Zeliha and Uğuralp, Ahmet Kaan and Puntoni, Stefano, Why Most Resist AI Companions (January 04, 2025). Harvard Business Working Paper No. 25-030, Harvard Business School Marketing Unit Working Paper No. 25-030, The Wharton School Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5097445 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5097445

Julian De Freitas (Contact Author)

Harvard Business School ( email )

Zeliha Uğuralp

Bilkent University

Bilkent, Ankara 06533
Turkey

Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp

Bilkent University

Bilkent, Ankara 06533
Turkey

Stefano Puntoni

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School ( email )

3641 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6365
United States

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