This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Some of us now use generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) to talk through difficult feelings. We may ask a chatbot to write an email or plan a vacation, but we also tell it that we have had a rotten day or feel anxious about a presentation.
A 2025 U.S. survey of 1,058 people ages 12 to 21 found that 13% had sought advice from gen AI when feeling sad, angry or nervous. Among those ages 18 to 21, the figure was 22%. These findings suggest that turning to gen AI for emotional or mental health support is already relatively common among young people.
So is gen AI a poor substitute for a friend? Human-written replies may seem the obvious source of greater support. However, in some experiments, including our own, people have rated gen AI responses more highly.
Our team at the universities of Manchester and Durham conducted five experiments comparing emotional-support messages written by people with those produced by large language models (LLMs), the systems behind chatbots such as ChatGPT. In one experiment, 390 participants imagined situations involving anger, sadness or fear. They then read either a human-written or gen AI response without being told its source.
For the anger and fear scenarios, participants rated the gen AI messages as more emotionally supportive. There was no reliable difference for sadness. Gen AI messages also improved some of the emotions participants reported, although the pattern varied.
In the fear scenario, for example, they increased calm more than human messages but did not produce a greater reduction in fear itself. Our findings fit a recent review of 23 studies. Overall, people tended to rate gen AI messages as more empathic, meaning that they appeared understanding and caring, than human-written ones.
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