Feeling Heard: How AI Conversations Ease Loneliness

Replika advertises that it is “here to make you feel HEARD, because it genuinely cares about you.”

More evidence suggests that conversations with AI can reduce loneliness at least temporarily. It’s not surprising that a social exchange with a social agent might soften the feeling of being alone. However, how AI conversations reduce loneliness has not been well understood.

De Freitas and colleagues’ recent study suggests that the feeling of being heard plays a significant role in why people feel less lonely after talking with an AI companion. The more “social” the AI character, the more it increases the sense of being heard, thereby becoming more effective at reducing loneliness. Being heard is one of the key ways psychotherapy or social support can help us manage stress and negative emotion.

Therefore, AI may be mimicking this mechanism giving us a way to share personal thoughts with “someone.” Two thoughts follow from this paper’s interesting findings.

First, loneliness is widespread: estimates suggest that 30%–60% of U.S. adults report being lonely, and the U.S. Surgeon General named loneliness an epidemic in 2023. The popularity of AI “friends” may reflect this serious problem of disconnection.

Second, companies like Replika often encourage people to anthropomorphize AI companions, as if they have genuine feelings, echoed in the ad above. Of course, AI doesn’t have genuine feelings, but once our brains perceive “genuine” emotions through long-term interactions, it may be hard to unwind those impressions.

In our highly isolated society, many of us are seeking social connection and I hope many people have options beyond AI connections as well.

Reference: De Freitas J, Oğuz-Uğuralp Z, Uğuralp AK, Puntoni S. AI Companions Reduce Loneliness. Journal of Consumer Research. 2025. doi: 10.1093/jcr/ucaf040.