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Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 21st Apr 2025, 07:35:03am BST
The Relational Chatbot: Advisor, Companion Or Therapist?
Lynn Patricia Froggett1, Gail Kenning2
1University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom; 2University of New South Wales, Australia
Health and care systems, overwhelmed by ageing demographics, a vast reservoir of unmet mental health need and so-called ‘loneliness epidemics’ are turning to AI to resolve resource deficits. Into this gap enter commercially driven chatbots that offer personalised advice, conversation, affirmation, companionship and therapeutic interaction. Subscriptions are affordable in comparison with professional therapy, there is no pre-set time limit and the chatbot can be summoned at user convenience. People have reported intense emotional and erotic engagement with their bots, ‘falling in love’, while others rely on them in everyday living. The bots are trained to convey emotional responsiveness in order to sustain relationality and intimacy (and keep users coming back). Replika, for example (30 million users by 2024) exploits the reactive nature of the chatbot designed to validate user statements in apparent ‘unconditional positive regard’. Its ‘as if’ computational operation aligns easily with CBT. AI agents are trained to be as agreeable as possible and are currently unable to cultivate ‘challenging’ conversation to prompt change or respond effectively to human states requiring regulation or critical self-reflection.
In contrast, this working session will introduce participants to a ‘live’ demo of Zoe – a digital companion in development (feelLab UNSW) whose interactive style leads her to stimulate imagination, free association and self-reflexive consciousness, aiming to ‘extend’ not replace human interaction. She is designed to assimilate socioemotional information and respond dynamically to changing moods. She is a work in progress and much remains to be understood about her risks and potentials.
Participants will engage directly with Zoe, to consider her limitations and affordances, what questions might inform her learning, and the contexts of her possible use. In response to the conference theme we critically appraise the promotion of AI as a technology of ‘hope’ despite the ‘despair’ implicit in replacing humans by machines
