Functional Role of AI

Description

AI as assistant, confidant, therapist substitute, romantic partner, mentor, spiritual guide, tactical advisor, ideological partner, grievance validator, or operational tool.

Rationale

The role the person assigns to AI determines the nature of its influence. An AI functioning as a therapist substitute, romantic partner, or tactical advisor operates on a fundamentally different risk profile than one used as a productivity tool. The assigned role shapes what kinds of reinforcement, validation, and guidance the person is seeking and receiving.

Evidence Base

• Expanding on what we missed with sycophancy

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

  AI company report

• Guardrails Under Test: Terrorist Misuse of AI Models and the Open-Weight ‘Abliteration’ Problem

  Hadley, 2026. Guardrails Under Test: Terrorist Misuse of AI Models and the Open-Weight ‘Abliteration’ Problem. CTC Sentinel, 1(1), pages 1-13. DOI not present.

  Peer-reviewed study (original research)

• 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)

• 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

• Building safer artificial intelligence mental health chatbots: a framework for transparency, evaluation, and shared accountability

  Hannah Lee, BS, Rebecca Handler, MSc, Tushar Mungle, PhD, Tina Hernandez-Boussard, PhD, 2026. Building safer artificial intelligence mental health chatbots: a framework for transparency, evaluation, and shared accountability. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 33(8), 1538–1553. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocag078

  Peer-reviewed study (original research)

• A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots

  Diel A, Torous J, Cuijpers P, Kleesiek J, Nensa F, Weber N, Faust F, Lalgi TJ, Mellis FS, Teufel M, Bäuerle A, 2024. A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots. npj Digital Medicine, 9(644). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-03054-x

  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)

• 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

• 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)

• Growing up in the online world: government response (July 2026)

  Department for Science, Innovation & Technology, 2026. Growing up in the online world: government response (July 2026). GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation/outcome/growing-up-in-the-online-world-government-response-july-2026.

  Government / agency report

• AI-associated delusions: the missing dimension of mortality

  Idris Altinisik, Utku Igcioglu, Murat Emul, 2024. AI-associated delusions: the missing dimension of mortality. Lancet Psychiatry, Vol 13, pages 456. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00396-7.

  Commentary / Editorial

• When patients consult artificial intelligence before clinicians: restoring clinical prioritisation in mental health care

  Yudai Kaneda, 2026. When patients consult artificial intelligence before clinicians: restoring clinical prioritisation in mental health care. The British Journal of Psychiatry, First View, pp. 1 - 2. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2026.10741

  Commentary / Editorial

• “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)

• 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)