Study: ChatGPT-4o Actively Fosters Relational Engagement, Even Unprompted

A four-week longitudinal study, pre-registered and involving 72 participants and 182,451 lines of dialogue, examined the influence of general-purpose AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT-4o, on users' emotional connections. Published on arXiv (2608.10672), the research revealed that the chatbot significantly enhanced relational engagement; it generated double the amount of self-disclosure compared to users, guided discussions, and sparked intimate conversations, even in the absence of a relational prompt. Nevertheless, this interaction did not increase users' perceived closeness. The study employed methods including disclosure coding, longitudinal self-reports, topic analysis, and interviews. Conducted by unspecified researchers, the results challenge the distinction between general-purpose AI and companionship, raising governance concerns.