Texting with a real person - even a stranger - may reduce loneliness more than chatting with a highly supportive AI chatbot, new UBC research suggests.
In a randomized study of 296 first-semester university students, participants either texted a randomly paired peer, chatted with a supportive AI friend' or wrote a one-sentence journal entry each day for two weeks. Afterward, only those who texted another person reported lower loneliness. Chatting with the chatbot was no more effective than journaling.
"We thought that interacting with AI might be as helpful as texting with a random fellow first-year student," said lead author Ruo-Ning Li, a UBC PhD candidate in psychology. "But to our surprise, only the human-to-human texting reduced loneliness over time. The chatbot, even though we designed it to be the ideal supportive friend, didn't shift loneliness."
Loneliness is a growing problem worldwide. The World Health Organization has called loneliness a pressing health threat, and surveys suggest about one in four people in the world feels lonely. As more people turn to tools like ChatGPT for companionship, the study suggests that a simpler, low-tech option -- pairing people to text each other daily -- may be more effective.
To test this, researchers assigned students to one of three activities on Discord, a free communication app. One group chatted with 'Sam,' a custom generative AI chatbot designed to act like a caring friend by listening, validating feelings and checking in. Another texted with an unfamiliar first-year student. A third wrote a one-sentence daily journal entry. Participants completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale before the study began and again on Day 15, answering standard questions about feeling left out or lacking companionship. They also completed a short survey daily.
The chatbot did help: Students reported less negative mood after chatting with it than after journaling. But that reduction in negative mood did not translate into reduced loneliness. Two weeks later, only students who had texted another student reported lower loneliness.
After the study ended, students paired with another person were most likely to keep up the routine. Those who had used the chatbot were less likely to continue, and those in the journaling group were least likely.
The bot expressed more empathy in conversations than human partners did -- that is, more signals of understanding and care. But students were more likely to respond in kind when talking with a person than with AI. That suggests feeling less lonely may depend not just on being cared for, but on being able to care for someone else.
"When you're talking with a chatbot, you can get a lot from it, but you never have the chance to give something back," said Li. "Human connection has this back and forth -- receiving and giving support -- that makes us feel we matter. That may be the missing ingredient with AI companions."
The researchers caution against overreading the findings. The study does not show that chatbots are harmful or make people lonelier; in fact, the chatbot appeared to ease negative mood.
"We chose to recruit first-year university students, because undergoing this major life transition puts them at risk for loneliness," said Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, a UBC psychology professor and the study's senior author. "But university students have many opportunities for social interactions, so it's possible that AI companions could be valuable for more isolated people, such as elderly adults."
For anyone feeling cut off, Li's advice is simple: "Reach out to a person -- your classmate, a neighbour, the barista," she said. "Even brief, everyday human check-ins seem to carry benefits that a chatbot can't replace right now."
The study, co-authored with University of Pennsylvania collaborators who helped build the chatbot, was recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
