The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) large language model technology has resulted in artificial entities that seem highly empathetic. These advances have prompted empathy researchers to reckon with the question of whether something can be empathetic if it cannot feel. Ayers and colleagues’ 2023 paper brought this question to the forefront.
Their paper was among the first to demonstrate the surprising empathetic capabilities of modern AI technology. The researchers drew on data from the Reddit subreddit r/AskDocs, where users can publicly post their personal medical questions and receive responses from verified healthcare professionals. The research team collected nearly 200 of these medical questions and corresponding physician responses, and used OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 to generate an AI response to each question.
The researchers then asked a team of licensed healthcare professionals to evaluate both the physician and AI-generated responses while blinded to the source of each response. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Ayers, J. Comparing physician and artificial intelligence chatbot responses to patient questions posted to a public social media forum.
Med. 183, 589–596 (2023) Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Psychology Department, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA The author declares no competing interests. Artificial intelligence and the changing science of empathy. Nat Rev Psychol (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-026-00638-y DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44159-026-00638-y
Extract — continue reading at the source.
