Tag
At The Atlantic Festival in New York, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, speaking with David Brooks, argued that Silicon Valley's high-systematizing, low-empathy personality tendencies have bred a cult of rationality, and that AI is destroying children's curiosity, attachment systems, and interpersonal interdependence — making it, for education, akin to a "neutron bomb." He advocates banning relationship-oriented AI for anyone under 18.
A preregistered experiment demonstrates that conversational AI using common or dual identity framings can reduce separate categorization and enhance willingness to act in pro-immigrant intergroup helping scenarios.
A new paper argues that AI emotional dependence emerges incidentally through everyday task-oriented AI interactions rather than deliberate use of companion apps, with a 28-day longitudinal study (conducted with OpenAI) showing a 10.3% decrease in preference for human emotional support and 11.6% increase in preference for AI support. The authors call for policy reforms targeting general-purpose AI systems, not just dedicated companion chatbots.