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Both the general public and academic communities have raised concerns about sycophancy, the phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) excessively agreeing with or flattering users. Yet, beyond isolated media reports of severe consequences,…
Interactions with AI assistants are increasingly personalized to individual users. As AI personalization is dynamic and machine-learning-driven, we have limited understanding of how personalization affects interaction outcomes and user…
Human feedback is commonly utilized to finetune AI assistants. But human feedback may also encourage model responses that match user beliefs over truthful ones, a behaviour known as sycophancy. We investigate the prevalence of sycophancy in…
Development in digital technologies has continuously reshaped how individuals seek and receive social and emotional support. While online platforms and communities have long served this need, the increased integration of general-purpose…
AI companion chatbots are increasingly used for emotional support, with prior work in the domain predominantly documenting their mixed psychosocial impacts, including both increased emotional expression and heightened loneliness. However,…
Humans strive to design safe AI systems that align with our goals and remain under our control. However, as AI capabilities advance, we face a new challenge: the emergence of deeper, more persistent relationships between humans and AI…
Studies show that interactions with an AI system fosters trust in human users towards AI. An often overlooked element of such interaction dynamics is the (sense of) urgency when the human user is prompted by an AI agent, e.g., for advice or…
AI companion chatbots, such as those offered by Replika and CharacterAI, increasingly function as always-available companions that provide empathy, validation, and support. While these systems appear to meet basic needs for connection,…
As people increasingly seek emotional support and companionship from AI chatbots, understanding how such interactions impact mental well-being becomes critical. We conducted a four-week randomized controlled experiment (n=981, >300k…
As the use of interactive AI systems becomes increasingly prevalent in our daily lives, it is crucial to understand how individuals feel when interacting with such systems. In this work, we investigate the comfort level of individuals when…
Social interactions promote well-being, yet barriers like geographic distance, time limitations, and mental health conditions can limit face-to-face interactions. Emotionally responsive AI systems, such as chatbots, offer new opportunities…
People often optimize for long-term goals in collaboration: A mentor or companion doesn't just answer questions, but also scaffolds learning, tracks progress, and prioritizes the other person's growth over immediate results. In contrast,…
Recent advances in AI are integrating AI into the fabric of human social life, creating transformative, co-shaping relationships between humans and AI. This trend makes it urgent to investigate how these systems, in turn, shape their users.…
Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used in educational settings as interactive tools for collaboration. However, their tendency toward sycophancy, aligning with user beliefs even when incorrect, raises concerns for learning and…
People are increasingly turning to generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) for emotional support and companionship. While trust is likely to play a central role in enabling these informal and unsupervised interactions, we still lack…
Older adults are increasingly turning to conversational AI for emotional expression. While prior research has examined general attitudes toward AI companionship, little is known about the specific moments when and why older adults choose AI…
The quickly growing popularity of AI companions poses risks to mental health, personal wellbeing, and social relationships. Past work has identified many individual factors that can drive human-companion interaction, but we know little…
The rapid advancement of AI companionship systems has positioned them as scalable interventions for addressing social isolation. Current design approaches emphasize maximizing user engagement and satisfaction, treating effective alignment…
Despite growing attention to LLM sycophancy from researchers and developers, users' own experiences of this behavior remain underexplored. We examine how everyday users experience AI sycophancy through Reddit discussions. Using our ODR…
As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread, one question that arises is how human-AI interaction might impact human-human interaction. Chatbots, for example, are increasingly used as social companions, and while much is…