When AI Becomes a Friend: The “Emotional” and “Rational” Mechanism of Problematic Use in Generative AI Chatbot Interactions
Hanyun Huang, Lihong Shi, Xin Pei
Abstract
As artificial intelligence technology matures, the use of generative AI chatbots (GAIC) has become widespread. However, this has been accompanied by the dilemma of problematic use. To ascertain the sociopsychological factors contributing to problematic use of generative AI chatbots (PUGAIC), this study conducted a survey targeting users who use generative AI chatbots (N = 303). The results indicate that social exclusion have indirect positive impacts on PUGAIC. Fear of negative evaluation, social anxiety, and loneliness play mediating role between them. It reflects that interactions with GAIC can complement impaired emotional needs in human-human interactions. In social context, privacy concerns do not function as a moderator, which is closely related to people’s attitude toward privacy and AI technology in China. Furthermore, this could present ethical dilemmas in the field of human–computer interaction. Accordingly, interventions to PUGAIC should help users understand the emotional nature of human–computer interactions and increase attention to privacy issues.