Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots
Survey of 1,006 student users of the companion chatbot Replika measuring loneliness, perceived social support, usage patterns, and beliefs about the chatbot. Reports users were lonelier than typical student populations yet reported high perceived social support, and that a small share credited the chatbot with halting suicidal ideation.
Publisher
npj Mental Health Research (Nature Portfolio)
Published
22 Jan 2024
Added
today
Key Findings
- Student Replika users reported higher loneliness than typical student populations but high perceived social support
- 3% of users reported that Replika halted their suicidal ideation
- Users related to the chatbot in multiple overlapping roles (friend, therapist, intellectual mirror)
Methodology Notes
Peer-reviewed, npj Mental Health Research 3:4 (22 January 2024), DOI 10.1038/s44184-023-00047-6. Cross-sectional self-report survey (n=1,006). DISPUTED: a published Matters Arising response (DOI 10.1038/s44184-024-00083-w) challenges the analysis, and commentary has questioned competing-interest disclosure; tracked as contested for that reason, not because the finding is dismissed.
Sources
npj Mental Health Research article (primary)
Matters Arising (response/rebuttal)
Archived snapshot (Wayback Machine) — preserved against link rot
Topics
Authors
Bethanie Maples, Merve Cerit, Aditya Vishwanath, Roy Pea
Tags
Cite This
APA
Bethanie Maples et al. (2024). Loneliness and suicide mitigation for students using GPT3-enabled chatbots. npj Mental Health Research (Nature Portfolio). https://www.nature.com/articles/s44184-023-00047-6
Related Insights
Too human and not human enough: A grounded theory analysis of mental health harms from emotional dependence on the social chatbot Replika
New Media & Society (SAGE) · 22 Dec 2022
AI Companions Reduce Loneliness
Journal of Consumer Research (Oxford University Press) · 1 Apr 2026
AI companions and subjective well-being: Moderation by social connectedness and loneliness
Technology in Society (Elsevier) · 1 Apr 2026
Delivering Cognitive Behavior Therapy to Young Adults With Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety Using a Fully Automated Conversational Agent (Woebot): A Randomized Controlled Trial
JMIR Mental Health · 6 Jun 2017