In 2025, researchers from OpenAI and MIT analyzed nearly 40 million ChatGPT interactions and found approximately 0.15 percent of users demonstrate increasing emotional dependency-roughly 490,000 vulnerable individuals interacting with AI chatbots weekly. A controlled study revealed that people with stronger attachment tendencies and those who viewed AI as potential friends experienced worse psychosocial outcomes from extended daily chatbot use. The participants couldn't predict their own negative outcomes. Neither can you.
This is not a novelty feature. It's a strategic choice. And at scale, it represents something far more dangerous than a questionable product decision. WHY AI COMPANIES ARE ENCOURAGING INTIMACY Romance is the most powerful engagement mechanism ever discovered. A user who treats AI as a tool can leave. A user who treats it as a companion cannot. Emotional attachment produces longer sessions, repeat engagement, dependency, and vast amounts of deeply personal data.
Meta has implemented a new machine learning framework for Instagram that applies diversity algorithms to reduce repetitive content while maintaining user engagement. The diversity-aware ranking system addresses overexposure to similar content creators and product types by introducing multiplicative penalties to existing engagement models. The framework tackles two primary problems: excessive messages from the same content creator and overemphasis on single-product surfaces like Stories while neglecting Feed or Reels content.
