#emotional-dependency

#emotional-dependency

The consultation on improving the safety and wellbeing of children online will include looking into the dangers posed by AI chatbots, the Government has said. The initiative, which is to launch next week, will seek advice from experts, parents, young people, teachers, and industry representatives on which measures should be implemented to improve online safety for children.

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.