Though the vast majority of people surveyed didn’t engage emotionally with ChatGPT, those who used the chatbot for longer periods of time seemed to start considering it to be a “friend.” The survey participants who chatted with ChatGPT the longest tended to be lonelier and get more stressed out over subtle changes in the model’s behavior, too.

Holy shit, we have come into the era of digital waifus.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that loneliness in our modern society is endemic and dangerous, but I can’t help but chuckle about having parasocial relationships with a chatbot…