Mental health researchers are increasingly concerned that AI chatbots can foster maladaptive dependence and addiction-like behavior, in part because they lack the natural conversational limits humans provide. A Harvard-led study of more than 20,000 adults found daily personal AI users reported 30% higher rates of depression than non-users. Researchers describe unique mechanisms behind this dependence, including techno-emotional projection, where vulnerable users form parasocial attachments to chatbots, and cognitive miserliness, in which people gradually offload thinking to AI systems.
