Human-AI relationships are no longer confined to the domain of science fiction. As the technology has developed, AI chatbots have evolved from playing a role in search engines and image-generation tools into confidants, therapists and even romantic partners. It’s a radical evolution of human-AI interactions that brings with it new risks in how it is reshaping the way we think and talk about relationships, including with ourselves, finds new research published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

Prolonged interaction with AI chatbots can lead people to develop an emotional dependence on the technology, potentially alienating them from human relationships, said Andreia Sofia Teixeira, an associate professor at Northeastern University London in the Network Science Institute who co-authored the recent work. As a growing number of lawsuits claim chatbots’ role in people’s deaths, the new research underscores how being caught in an echo chamber with a sycophantic tool can potentially spell disaster for the most vulnerable.

“The problem is less about AI performance and much more about the impact of these sustained interactions on ourselves … and how, over time, this may impact society at large,” Teixeira said.