Finding romance with AI: UMSI study explores the benefits and limits of chatbot intimacy

An AI companion can be available for a late-night conversation, respond to personal disclosures and discuss a favorite topic for hours. For people who develop intimate relationships with chatbots, those exchanges can offer a meaningful sense of connection. 

But how does that connection compare with intimacy between people?

New research co-authored by University of Michigan School of Information researcher Lionel Robert suggests the answer depends on the kind of intimacy involved and on the person’s broader social support.

The study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, found that emotional and intellectual intimacy ratings were similar across chatbot, long-distance human and in-person human relationships. But chatbot relationships showed different patterns of loneliness, satisfaction and well-being.

"Whether people should be or not, people are developing relationships with AI chatbots," said Robert, professor of information and robotics. "The question that always comes up: Is it a good thing or a bad thing?"

Robert and colleagues Annette Masterson and Xin Ye surveyed 463 U.S. adults: 155 in intimate relationships with chatbots, 153 in long-distance human relationships and 155 in in-person human relationships. They recruited people already involved in relationships, rather than asking participants to briefly experiment with an AI companion.

Including long-distance relationships helped the team examine whether patterns were distinctive to AI companionship or also appeared when people communicated with human partners at a distance. The groups were similar in age, gender distribution, relationship length and reported depression.

Researchers examined several dimensions of intimacy, including sharing feelings, exchanging ideas, sexual closeness, shared social networks and participating in activities together. They also measured loneliness, relationship satisfaction, overall well-being and perceived social support.

One of the clearest differences concerned emotional intimacy. In both human relationship groups, greater emotional intimacy was associated with lower loneliness. But among chatbot users, greater emotional intimacy was associated with higher loneliness, even though it was also linked to greater satisfaction with the relationship. This negative association went away when social support was included. 

Outside of emotional intimacy, the findings around sexual and intellectual intimacy were surprising. Sexual intimacy was associated with greater relationship satisfaction among people in chatbot and long-distance human relationships, but not with the in-person relationship group.

Intellectual intimacy was linked to greater satisfaction and well-being among chatbot users, and with greater well-being among people in long-distance relationships. These associations remained significant after researchers accounted for broader social support.

For Robert, the findings raise questions about how AI companionship fits alongside human connection. 

"When I was going into this research, I thought we’d find simpler answers," he said. "But the fact that it's much more complicated opens up more questions than answers about our future relationships." 

Study: Finding Romance with AI: Comparing Human and AI Chatbot Intimacy and Relationships