ChatGPT can kill you emotionally? Here’s what OpenAI study reveals about the AI tool

People who use ChatGPT regularly may experience increased loneliness and emotional dependence, OpenAI revealed in its recent study titled Investigating Affective Use and Emotional Well-being on ChatGPT. The study referred to these people as "power users."

OpenAI conducted a comprehensive study exploring how increased usage of the ChatGPT chatbot could impact human behaviour. MIT Media Labs also conducted a parallel study on the same subject.

Nearly 1,000 participants took part in the 28-day randomised controlled experiment.

What study says

“As AI chatbots see increased adoption and integration into everyday life, questions have been raised about the potential impact of human-like or anthropomorphic AI on users. In this work, we investigate the extent to which interactions with ChatGPT (with a focus on Advanced Voice Mode) may impact users’ emotional well-being, behaviors and experiences," an excerpt from the study says.

“Overall, higher daily usage–across all modalities and conversation types–correlated with higher loneliness, dependence, and problematic use and lower socialization," according to a researcher.

“These findings underscore the complex interplay between chatbot design choices (e.g., voice expressiveness) and user behaviors (e.g., conversation content, usage frequency). We highlight the need for further research on whether chatbots’ ability to manage emotional content without fostering dependence or replacing human relationships benefits overall well-being,” an MIT researcher stated in the abstract of the study.

How men and women respond to ChatGPT

Females who took part in the study were slightly less likely to socialise, in comparison to males, showed the study after interacting with the AI tool for four weeks.

How participants interact with neutral and engaging modes

A different part of the research revealed how participants used the chatbot in two distinct modes: a "neutral mode" and an "engaging mode." In the neutral setting, the AI reverted with formal and succinct answers, whereas in the engaging mode, it was structured to provide an emotional and empathetic response.

Users who communicated with the neutral mode were more likely to feel a rise in loneliness, while those who used the engaging mode experienced less isolation.

Another study on ChatGPT

According to a study by the University of Zurich and the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich, ChatGPT could display signs of “anxiety" when given violent prompts, making it exhibit racist or sexist biases.