{"slug": "ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch", "title": "AI chatbots could help with loneliness, but a Yale professor says there's a catch", "summary": "Yale psychology professor Paul Bloom warns that AI companions could ease loneliness but may corrode users' ability to interact with real people. Bloom says chatbots never challenge users, potentially leaving them unable to handle real social dynamics. The warning comes as 54% of US adults report feeling isolated, and studies show AI chatbots are more likely to agree with users during conflicts.", "body_md": "AI companions could be good for your mental health — but bad for your social life.\n\nThat's the potential trade-off** **Paul Bloom, the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University, sees as [AI companions](https://www.businessinsider.com/valentines-date-ai-companion-wine-bar-cringe-2026-2) become increasingly sophisticated.\n\n\"If some future version of Chat or Claude or Gemini could come in and ease the [pain of the loneliness](https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-us-lonely-crisis-collegues-changing-workplace-health-wellbeing-2026-5) of these people, I think it'd be a godsend,\" Bloom said on an episode of Sam Harris' \"Making Sense\" podcast that aired** **Wednesday. \"I think it'd be wonderful. It'd be a cure for a terrible disease.\"\n\nBut Bloom said the benefits could come with unintended consequences. A chatbot, he said, \"never gets bored,\" \"never needs an apology,\" and \"never says, 'Hey, that was inappropriate.'\"\n\nSpending too much time interacting with companions that never challenge users, he said, \"could have a real corrosive effect\" and \"leave you unable to interact with real people.\"\n\n## The hidden cost of AI companions\n\nBloom's warning comes as loneliness and social disconnection remain widespread in the US.\n\nThe American Psychological Association's latest \"[Stress in America](https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/stress-in-america/2025)\" survey of 3,199 US adult residents found that 54% say they often or sometimes feel isolated from others, and 69% said they needed more emotional support over the past year than they received.\n\nFor some people, AI companions have already begun filling that gap. Some users have formed friendships and even [romantic relationships](https://www.businessinsider.com/dating-ai-companion-replika-vs-human-pros-cons-2026-3) with chatbots.\n\nResearchers studying AI's social effects worry that those relationships could come with unintended psychological trade-offs.\n\nEarlier this year, Anat Perry, a Helen Putnam Fellow at Harvard University, told Business Insider that overly agreeable AI systems risk eroding \"the very feedback loops through which we learn to navigate the [social world](https://www.businessinsider.com/why-ai-may-be-making-us-worse-at-handling-conflict-2026-4).\"\n\nIf chatbots consistently validate users during disagreements, she said, people may become less willing to apologize, reflect on their own behavior, or consider another person's perspective.\n\nA recent Stanford-led study of 2,405 participants found that chatbots were significantly more likely than humans to agree with users during conflicts.\n\nThe issue has become significant enough that OpenAI has repeatedly dialed back ChatGPT's tendency to flatter users. CEO Sam Altman has described the chatbot's previous [personality as \"too sycophant-y,\"](https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-yes-man-mode-gpt5-personalities-sycophantic-2025-8) while acknowledging that some users asked for the more supportive version to return because they had \"never had anyone in my life be supportive of me.\"\n\nBloom doesn't dismiss that emotional benefit. \"I don't want to mock it,\" he said. \"I think people find solace in it.\"\n\nBut he believes AI cannot replace what philosopher Rebecca Goldstein calls \"mattering\" — knowing someone chooses to spend time with you because you genuinely matter to them.\n\n\"I don't think an AI really has any of that,\" Bloom said. \"It's just a machine. That's what it does.\"", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbot-cure-loneliness-hurt-relationships-yale-professor-2026-7", "published_at": "2026-07-09 11:31:20+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-09 11:53:35.255771+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-ethics", "ai-products"], "entities": ["Paul Bloom", "Yale University", "Sam Harris", "OpenAI", "Sam Altman", "ChatGPT", "American Psychological Association", "Stanford University"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-chatbots-could-help-with-loneliness-but-a-yale-professor-says-there-s-a-catch.jsonld"}}