Texting with a random person may be more effective in alleviating loneliness than an AI

In this pre-registered study, [the authors] tested the effectiveness of a chatbot versus a human peer in reducing loneliness among 296 students in their first semester of university. For two weeks, participants either interacted with a chatbot or a human peer, or simply wrote a brief journal entry (control condition). Although our chatbot “Sam” was designed to offer consistent support rooted in principles from relationship science, interacting with this chatbot did not yield the same psychological benefits as interacting with a randomly selected first-year university student. The present study provides initial evidence that texting daily with a random human peer may be more effective in alleviating loneliness than texting with a highly supportive chatbot.