One in three adults in the UK are using AI chatbots for emotional support or social interaction, according to new government research.
AI
The study found that one in 25 adults rely on the technology for these purposes every day.
It is the first report from the AI Security Institute, based on two years of testing the capabilities of more than 30 unnamed chatbots across areas including security and scientific reasoning.
A survey of 2,000 UK adults revealed that the most commonly used tools for emotional support and social interaction were chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and France-based Mistral.
To a lesser extent, respondents also turned to voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa.
The research found that some users who depended on chatbots for emotional support experienced symptoms of withdrawal when the technology was unavailable.
These included anxiety and depression, with users discussing their experiences on online communities focused on AI companions during chatbot outages. Others reported disrupted sleep patterns and neglect of daily responsibilities.
Beyond emotional use, the study also examined security risks. It found that AI’s ability to identify and exploit security flaws is doubling roughly every eight months. However, the report noted that the same tools can also be used to strengthen and secure digital systems.
