Research shows that a third of British citizens have used AI for emotional support

According to the government’s AI Security Agency, a third of British citizens have used artificial intelligence for emotional support, companionship or social interaction.

The AI ​​Security Institute (AISI) stated that almost one in ten use systems such as chatbots for emotional purposes on a weekly basis and 4% use them daily.

AISI called for further investigation, citing the death this year of US teenager Adam Raine, who killed himself after speaking to ChatGPT about suicide.

“People are increasingly turning to AI systems for emotional support or social interaction,” AISI said in its first Frontier AI Trends report. “While many users report positive experiences, recent high-profile harm cases highlight the need for research in this area, including the conditions under which harm might occur and the safeguards that could enable beneficial use.”

AISI based its research on a representative survey of 2,028 British participants. It turns out that the type of AI most commonly used for emotional purposes was…