ai
Chatbot Sam Shows No Effect on Loneliness in Two-Week Student Trial
@NewScientist reported that daily messages to an empathetic AI produced no change in loneliness scores. Talking to randomly assigned fellow students reduced isolation on the same measure.
claimsjournal.comAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
A two-week trial at the University of British Columbia found that students who exchanged daily messages with a ChatGPT-powered chatbot experienced no reduction in loneliness. Participants who instead traded texts with randomly assigned fellow students reported lower isolation scores. Ruo-Ning Li led the study.
Researchers built the chatbot Sam and instructed it to act as a supportive roommate. ” Around 300 students were split into three groups. One group sent at least one message daily to Sam, another exchanged messages with a peer, and the third kept a one-sentence journal.
Participants averaged eight to 10 messages per day. ” Only the group that spoke with other students showed improvement. Both the chatbot group and the journal group recorded no overall change. ” The trial builds on earlier observations of human-like responses to simple programs.
In the 1960s Joseph Weizenbaum created ELIZA, which converted user statements into questions. ” Weizenbaum’s secretary once asked him to leave the room during her session with the program. Separate data cited in the report showed that 16 percent of U.S.
Adults and 25 percent of those under 30 have used AI for companionship.
