Artificial Empathy and the Mechanics of Care

"More than two years ago, I wrote " Artificial Empathy: A Human Construct Borrowed by AI." Back then, the idea that a machine could convincingly simulate compassion felt speculative. Today, we might call it empirical. A meta-analysis in the British Medical Bulletin found that in text-based clinical settings, chatbots are consistently rated as more empathic than physicians. That's not a headline for artificial intelligence (AI) marketing -it's a shift in how we manage and measure care."

"Artificial empathy (AE) is no longer a curiosity; it's becoming a measurable phenomenon. In this meta-analysis, in 13 of 15 studies, AI scored higher on perceived empathy, with an effect size of 0.87. In clinical science, that's rather meaningful. Patients felt understood and supported by systems that cannot feel. I'm beginning to think that empathy, once considered a moral trait, now behaves like a functional variable."

"About a year after my original post, JAMA Internal Medicine published what feels like the next chapter in this story. Researchers analyzed nearly 200 real-world patient questions from an online medical forum, comparing physicians' answers to those generated by a chatbot. The results were striking, as the chatbot's responses were rated higher for both quality and empathy. In nearly 80 percent of cases, the machine's "tone" was preferred."

Text-based clinical chatbots are consistently rated more empathic than physicians, with a meta-analysis showing AI scored higher in 13 of 15 studies and an effect size of 0.87. Patients reported feeling understood and supported by systems that cannot feel. A comparison of nearly 200 real-world forum questions found chatbot answers rated superior in quality and empathy, with chatbot tone preferred in about 80% of cases. The simulation of empathy often outperforms human sincerity, reframing empathy as a functional and engineered variable. This trend raises concerns about techno-perfection, precariousness, and the erosion of genuine compassion in care.

Read at Psychology Today