In my clinic, it has become routine for patients to tell me they consulted a chatbot before coming to see me, while some say they have been receiving therapy from one.
Some people tell me they talk to an AI app late at night when they cannot sleep or when driving back from work.
Others admit that the kind message they sent to a friend after an argument was written or at least polished by it. These are ordinary people doing what humans have always done, looking for someone to listen to them.
A new study by two American researchers published this year in the journal 'Perspectives on Psychological Science' described two roles that AI now plays in our lives.
The first role is when AI becomes your companion, so when you type your worries, it replies immediately, kindly, without judging you, at any hour. It never gets tired or brings up old arguments and never says "not now." For a lonely or anxious person, that can feel like real comfort.
The second role is when you use it to facilitate how you talk to other people. It softens an angry text, rewrites an awkward apology, or makes a request sound more polite.
The person receiving the message may never know a machine was involved. Why do these tools feel so personal?
The answer lies in language. When someone mirrors our words, remembers what we said and responds to our mood, our brain reads this as understanding.
AI does this very well. It has no feelings, yet it can sound as if it does. And because its answers are smooth and confident, we tend to believe them, even when they are wrong.
This matters greatly when people ask AI for advice about their health, their medicines, or their marriage.
None of this is entirely good or entirely bad. AI can help a shy person find the words to reach out, or help a couple express themselves more calmly.
In that case, it acts as a bridge. But it can also become a wall. If a machine is always patient and always agreeable, real people, who are tired, busy and sometimes moody, may start to feel like too much effort.
We may slowly lose patience for the give-and-take that every real relationship needs. An AI that always agrees with us can also strengthen our worst ideas instead of questioning them.
A chatbot can answer at two in the morning, but it cannot visit you when you are ill, sit beside you at a funeral, or attend your wedding.
In my opinion, the answer is not to fear AI or ban it but to use it wisely. Treat it as a useful tool, not as a friend who truly knows you.
Anything it tells you about your health should be checked with a qualified professional. If you notice that you are talking more to a screen than to people, take that as a gentle warning.
And if AI helps you write a kind message, let it lead you back to a real conversation, a phone call, a visit, or a cup of coffee together.
The issue is no longer whether machines can become part of our relationships. It is whether they will support the relationships that matter most or quietly replace them. That choice is still ours.
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