Many individuals are using artificial intelligence to replace needs historically met in relationships.

AI can mimic empathy, but it cannot offer real empathy.

Relying on AI for connection deepens isolation and erodes vital human relational skills.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has evolved rapidly over the last several years, with people growing increasingly attached to it. The various versions of AI have been described as having different personalities or personality traits (Jędrzejczak & Kobosko, 2025), with individuals developing strong attachments to certain versions. Many became particularly attached to GPT-4o, for example, with people reporting grieving and even having funerals when this version went away (Demopoulos, 2026).

Recent years have witnessed a rise in technology use that has even been described as similar to addiction. Mental health professionals have voiced concern that technology is replacing human-to-human relationships, contributing to increased isolation and loneliness, combined with deteriorating interpersonal skills (Hoffman & Hoffman, 2026; Schneider, 2019). Now, as individuals increasingly rely upon AI to write or polish emails, text messages, and letters, technology is being further inserted between human interactions. Given the accelerating pace of AI advancement and use, research and exploration of the ethics of AI are lagging.

At the 2026 American Psychological Association Annual Convention in August, AI companies were featured prominently as sponsors, and a wealth of presentations focused on AI. Diverse responses include mental health professionals scrambling to issue warnings, rapidly integrating AI into their practice, and finding opportunities in AI development. While some therapists worry about being replaced, others maintain confidence that AI will remain unable to replace the human elements of psychotherapy and recognize ways AI may contribute to a growing need for the depth and relational aspects of therapy (Hoffman, 2024).

In the 1950s, Harry Harlow (1958; Harlow & Zimmermann, 1959) conducted his famous studies in which infant rhesus monkeys were separated from........

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