AI can reassure and validate us, but validation is not the same as trust or intimacy.

Real relationships grow through vulnerability, disagreement and shared imperfection.

Over-reliance on AI risks weakening the habits that underpin empathy and authentic connection.

Embracing change and building relationships isn't a choice between AI or HI—it's knowing how to balance both.

AI is changing how we work, write and communicate. But there is another question we are only beginning to ask: what happens when it changes how we relate to other people?

Part of the challenge lies in striking the right balance between AI and HI - Human Interaction. The more we rely on AI bots in apps like Gmail and LinkedIn to write our emails and posts, the less we will strive for genuine and meaningful interaction.

But there may be a deeper issue. Will our interactions with AI impact how we expect conversations to flow in real life?

The more we rely on AI for support, feedback and even companionship, the less tolerant we may become of the vulnerability, friction and imperfections that make real relationships human.

What happens when we begin to prefer responses that feel good over relationships that help us to grow?

1. AI Rewards Us With Validation — But Praise is not Intimacy

AI is trained to agree with us and praise us - to make us feel good about ourselves. That is not how we typically communicate in person. In-person communication can often be more blunt, even brutal. Much depends on the strength and depth of individual relationships and personality........

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