2025-12-19 15:03:22

One in three Brits are using artificial intelligence (AI) for emotional support.

The AI Security Institute (AISI) has revealed that 33 per cent of people polled had turned to AI tools such as ChatGPT for “emotional purposes” over the past year.

The survey of 2,000 people found that a majority were turning to AI for social and emotional interactions, although five per cent used bots specifically designed as friends or romantic partners.

The usage frequency will add to safety concerns that have been raised about the responses that are provided by chatbots.

The report states: “While many users report positive experiences, recent high-profile cases of harm underline the need for research in this area.”

The findings are based on two years of research by the AISI, which was set up in 2023 by former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Jade Leung, the institute’s chief technology officer, said: “This report offers the most robust public evidence from a government body so far of how quickly frontier AI is advancing.”

The case of Adam Raine, an American teenager who took his own life after becoming hooked on ChatGPT, was cited in the report as an example of the dangers caused by AI.

The AISI also discovered spikes in negative sentiment online when AI chatbots suffered outages.

When a blackout hit the Character AI app, it discovered users reporting symptoms such as anxiety, depression and behaviour changes such as sleep disruption.

AI experts have warned of people becoming too dependent on the chatbots and eroding their real-life skills and relationships as a result.

There have also been cases of users suffering mental health problems and psychosis symptoms after becoming addicted to AI that is designed to comfort and please.

Microsoft’s AI chief Mustafa Suleyman had warned earlier this year that people could soon believe “the illusion of AI chatbots as conscious entities”.

He said: “Some people reportedly believe that AI is their God, or a fictional character, or fall in love with it to the point of absolute distraction.”

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