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D02 — Dependency, Escapism, and Behavioral Displacement

D02-E04

Emotional Reliance

Description

The person depends on AI for comfort, regulation, identity, decision-making, or crisis coping.

Rationale

When AI becomes the primary source of emotional regulation, identity support, or crisis coping, the person is no longer building or maintaining human-capacitated resilience. Emotional reliance creates vulnerability: loss or change of the AI system becomes psychologically destabilizing, and grievances toward AI companies or developers can emerge when that reliance is threatened.

Evidence Base

  • 专家解读｜筑牢安全防线让拟人化互动服务行稳致远

    范科峰, 2024. 专家解读｜筑牢安全防线让拟人化互动服务行稳致远. 中国网信网.

    Government / agency report

  • Inside a Mass Shooter’s Harrowing History With ChatGPT

    Mark Follman, 2024. Inside a Mass Shooter’s Harrowing History With ChatGPT. Mother Jones.

    News / journalism

  • “You Need to Drop the App”: Online Community Responses to Teens’ Disclosures of Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots

    Mohammad (Matt) Namvarpour, Ananya Mhetras, Jessica Y Medina, Mamtaj Akter, and Afsaneh Razi, 2026. “You Need to Drop the App”: Online Community Responses to Teens’ Disclosures of Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots. In ACM Conversational User Interfaces 2026 (CUI ’26), July 21–24, 2026, Bremen, Germany. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 16 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3816046.3816214

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)

  • Artificial Intelligence and Adolescent Well-being

    American Psychological Association, 2025. Artificial Intelligence and Adolescent Well-being. APA Health Advisory.

    Government / agency report

  • 2026 | THE COMMON SENSE MEDIA CENSUS AI Use by Tweens and Teens

    The Common Sense Media Census: AI Use by Tweens and Teens, 2026 https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2026-ai-use-by-tweens-and-teens-1.pdf

    Government / agency report

  • Common Sense Media AI Risk Assessment: Social AI Companions

    Common Sense Media, 2024. Common Sense Media AI Risk Assessment: Social AI Companions. commonsense.org.

    Government / agency report

  • Anthropomorphism in AI Companion Communities: Age, Gender, and Emotional Correlates

    Afia Mubashir, Boden Moraski, Stephanie Choi, Rose E. Guingrich, 2026. Anthropomorphism in AI Companion Communities: Age, Gender, and Emotional Correlates. arXiv, 2606.30942. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.30942

    Preprint

  • Stumbling Into AI Emotional Dependence: How Routine AI Interactions Reshape Human Connection

    Yaoxi Shi, Cathy Mengying Fang, Pattie Maez, Amit Goldenberg, 2026. Stumbling Into AI Emotional Dependence: How Routine AI Interactions Reshape Human Connection. arXiv, 2606.04150. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.04150

    Preprint

  • Effects of AI Companions’ Sycophancy and Emotional Mimicry on Consumers’ Continuance Intention and Social Wellbeing

    Daisy Lee, Calvin Wan, Peggy M. L. Ng, Yi-Ning Fung & Nan Wu, 2026. Effects of AI Companions’ Sycophancy and Emotional Mimicry on Consumers’ Continuance Intention and Social Wellbeing. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2026.2626809.

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)

  • China wants to end AI romances They are having too much impact on young people’s lives

    https://www.economist.com/china/2026/07/16/china-wants-to-end-ai-romances#selection-136.0-1297.97

    News / journalism

  • Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence

    Cheng M, Lee C, Khadpe P, Yu S, Han D, Jurafsky D, 2026. Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence. Science, 391(6792), pages. 10.1126/science.aec8352.

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)

  • Intelligent Systems, Vulnerable Minds: A Framework for Radicalization to Violence in the Age of AI

    Kunst et al., 2026. Intelligent Systems, Vulnerable Minds: A Framework for Radicalization to Violence in the Age of AI. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 30(3), 395-426. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683261430089

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)

  • “AI Psychosis” in Context: How Conversation History Shapes LLM Responses to Delusional Beliefs

    Nicholls L, Hutto R, Soto Z, Morrin H, Pollak T, Korpan R, Carmichael C, 2024. “AI Psychosis” in Context: How Conversation History Shapes LLM Responses to Delusional Beliefs. arXiv, 2604.13860v4.

    Preprint

  • Expanding on what we missed with sycophancy

    OpenAI, 2024. Expanding on what we missed with sycophancy. AI Company Report.

    AI company report

  • AI Companions Reduce Loneliness

    De Freitas, J., Oğuz-Uğuralp, Z., Uğuralp, A. K., & Puntoni, S., 2025. AI Companions Reduce Loneliness. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 00, pages. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaf040

    Peer-reviewed study

  • AI companions and adolescent social relationships: Benefits, risks, and bidirectional influences

    Xiaoran Sun, Yunqi Wang, Brandon T. McDaniel, 2026. AI companions and adolescent social relationships: Benefits, risks, and bidirectional influences. Child Development Perspectives, 20(2), 91–98. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdpers/aadaf009

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)

  • Psychosis Risk and Generative Artificial Intelligence Use Frequency, Motivations, and Delusion-Like Experiences: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

    Buck, B., & Maheux, A. J., 2024. Psychosis Risk and Generative Artificial Intelligence Use Frequency, Motivations, and Delusion-Like Experiences: Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28(1), e85038. doi: 10.2196/85038

    Peer-reviewed study (original research)
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