The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to an increase in its usage for various purposes, including seeking advice and emotional support. However, a recent study has found that people who interact with chatbots for emotional support or other personal reasons are more likely to report symptoms of depression or anxiety.<\/p>\n
The researchers from Mass General Brigham surveyed 20,847 mostly white men and women in the United States about their AI usage and mental health symptoms. The survey, published in JAMA Network Open, found that 10.3% of participants reported using artificial intelligence \u201cat least daily\u201d and 5% reported using it \u201cmultiple times per day.\u201d Of those using an AI program at least daily, nearly half were using it for work and about 11% used it for school. Among daily users, 87.1% reported using it for personal reasons, which could include recommendations, advice, or emotional support.<\/p>\n
Dr. Roy Perlis, a lead author of the study, said that most people\u2019s exposure to artificial intelligence is through chatbots. The mean age of the participants in the study was 47. Those who used chatbots daily for personal reasons were more likely to experience at least moderate depression or other feelings of anxiety and irritability, compared to people who didn\u2019t use AI. Participants were asked whether or how often in the past two weeks they had trouble concentrating, sleeping, eating, or thought about hurting themselves. Common symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, low self-esteem, lack of energy, and lacking motivation.<\/p>\n
Users with ages between 45 and 64 were more likely to report depressive symptoms with AI use. Previous research has shown that some people turn to AI for emotional support and even romantic relationships. Early studies have shown that chatbots specifically designed for mental health treatment may be useful as an adjunct for therapy. Other studies analyzing general chatbots, such as OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT, said they may be problematic to people with mental health conditions.
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The American Psychological Association advises against using AI as a replacement for therapy and psychological treatment. Perlis said the average difference in depression severity between chatbot users and nonusers was small, but warned some people may struggle more severely than others. \u201cThere\u2019s probably a subset of people where AI use is associated with no change in their mood, or even benefit in their mood,\u201d said Perlis, who serves as vice chair for research in the department of psychiatry at Mass General Brigham. \u201cBut that also means there are a subset where AI use is probably associated with worsening of their mood, and for some people, that can be substantially greater levels of depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
The researchers observed what\u2019s called a \u201cdose response,\u201d meaning the more frequently someone used AI, the stronger their symptoms were. Using AI for work or school wasn\u2019t associated with symptoms of depression. For people who use AI for personal reasons, Perlis said it can \u201crun the gamut\u201d on the nature of their interactions, and AI chatbots are a way of having a \u201csocial interaction that otherwise would be difficult for them.\u201d <\/p>\n
It also may be likely that people who are more depressed are more likely to turn to AI programs for companionship. Dr. Jodi Halpern, co-director for the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science and the Public at UC Berkeley, noted the study doesn\u2019t show that AI causes depression. \u201cIt could go in either direction,\u201d she said. \u201cIt could be a vicious cycle, we just have no idea. So the idea that when people are more depressed, they may use AI more for personal uses is very plausible.\u201d Nicholas Jacobson, associate professor of biomedical data science, psychiatry and computer science at Dartmouth College, said people may seek out AI for therapy if they\u2019re unhappy with standard care and because it\u2019s easier to access.<\/p>\n
The study found that men, younger adults, higher earners, those with higher education, and those in urban settings used AI more frequently. Jacobson said it\u2019s not certain why some people may be more likely to use AI, or are more negatively affected by it than others. \u201cWe don\u2019t know enough about this,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we need more studies to really understand why it is those groups in particular are more likely to use this, certainly.\u201d Halpern added that future research on AI should focus on its effects on people\u2019s mental health, and this study \u201cstretches our attention to look at the people we might not have been paying attention to.\u201d Perlis\u2019 study isn\u2019t a warning call, he said, but people should take into account their AI use and whether it\u2019s helping them or not. \u201c[People] should be mindful when they\u2019re interacting with a chatbot about how often they\u2019re doing it, what they\u2019re doing it instead of, and if they feel better or worse after they\u2019ve had an extended interaction," he said.
\nNBC10’s Randy Gyllenhaal talks to Drexel professor Dr. Tim Gorichanz about how AI is now quickly producing novels, term papers, pictures and other things. There are concerns from privacy to students not actually learning the material that come with the rise of A.I. ChatGPT even manages to make a news story for Randy.<\/p>\n
Using AI for Advice and Personal Reasons Linked to Depression, Anxiety The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to an increase in its usage for various purposes, including seeking advice and emotional support. However, a recent study has found that people who interact with chatbots for emotional support or other personal reasons are more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":24651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/media.nbcmiami.com\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2152811919-e1769044510516.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&fit=5192,3010&w=1920&resize=1920,1113&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24652,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24649\/revisions\/24652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}