By Guardian staff reporter
Publication Date: 2025-12-28 12:00:00
TThere is a lot of fear these days about the dangers of human-AI relationships. Reports of suicides and self-harm resulting from interactions with chatbots have understandably made headlines. The term “AI psychosis” is used to describe the plight of people who experience delusions, paranoia, or dissociation after conversations with large language models (LLMs). Our collective fear has been reinforced by studies showing that young people are increasingly embracing the idea of AI relationships; Half of teens chat with an AI companion at least a few times a month, with one in three finding conversations with AI “as satisfying or more satisfying than conversations with real friends.”
But we have to curb the panic. The dangers Are real, but so are the potential benefits. In fact, it can be argued that, depending on what future scientific research reveals, AI relationships could actually be a boon to humanity.
Think about how…
