A Major Issue with the Use of AI for Loneliness: Dependence
Relying on AI companions as a crutch in times of need is not an issue. However, depending on AI companions for daily emotional support is a huge problem.
The daily use of AI companions by thousands of people in the US is along the lines of something that is scientifically proven to be detrimental in the long-term: drug addiction.
Figure 8. Source: Casali, Mark (2021). Retrieved from:
https://www.turnbridge.com/news-events/latest-articles/addiction-vs-dependence/
Addiction
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is defined as a "chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry." The reward refers to the dopamine rush that you get when you experience something that your brain deems to be pleasurable. In most cases, this refers to a substance like a drug, but the comfort that many people feel from AI companions also falls into this category. This is why an attachment to an AI companion is comparable with an addiction to a drug. While the reception of dopamine may feel nice in the moment, the repeated flood of dopamine into the brain induced by a certain stimulus can "hijack" the brain so that you become obsessed with that stimulus, making it hard to concentrate on other tasks throughout your day (Williams 2025). The flood also leads to neuroadaptation, a process that essentially decreases the reception of dopamine from that stimulus. Neuroadaptation results in a big concern with dependence: tolerance.
Figure 9. Source: Moskal, Emily (2025). Retrieved from:
https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2025/08/addiction-science-human-brain-ancient-wiring.html
Tolerance
Because of the decreased reception of dopamine, the brain needs more of the stimulus in order to satisfy the craving for that stimulus. In the context of AI companion use, the person would start to need longer conversations or more frequent use of their companion in order to feel satisfied in the same way that they did when they first started using the companion. The increased use of the AI companion would actually make the person more lonely in the long-term because the time used with the companion would replace time connecting with real humans, which is the real solution to loneliness. A self-perpetuating cycle is created where the person becomes more lonely, increases their use of their AI companion to try to cope with the loneliness, and then becomes even more lonely. This downward spiral associated with dependence digs a deeper and deeper hole.
Figure 10. Source: Blum, Hannah (2025). Retrieved from:
https://hopetrustindia.com/blog/the-downward-spiral-of-addiction/