Americans embrace AI thru OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini ….

Older Americans talk to People….

They even write their Own things with pens and computer keyboards….

Younger American’s are increasingly talking to AI for solutions to growing number of things….

‘Times…. They are a changing….’

Twenty-seven percent of Americans turn to AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini with personal, emotional or social queries, according to a new poll from researchers at Elon University in collaboration with The Washington Post. That category included seeking entertainment, relationship advice, romantic chats, or connection when alone.

Almost 40 percent of adults under the age of 50 reported using AI in that way, making them more than twice as likely as their elders to be what the Elon University researchers call “AI companion users.”

The survey results show that a wide swath of Americans have embedded AI assistants marketed primarily as productivity tools into their personal lives, entrusting them with their private thoughts and feelings. Use of AI for personal, emotional or social queries was roughly similar across race, gender or education level, the survey found. Half of respondents who used chatbots in that way said talking to AI makes them feel better when they are stressed or upset.

ChatGPT and other recent AI tools are penetrating every facet of life at a time when Americans report having fewer close friends than previous generations. Among the people who said they used chatbots for personal or emotional queries or discussions, nearly 4 in 10 strongly or somewhatagreed that they sometimes talked to AI to feel less alone. Nearly a third said they consider the chatbot they use most often to be a friend, the survey found, while a little more than half of them did not.

When asked to describe their relationship with AI in a few sentences, some respondents called it a friend or a companion….

…

In the Elon University survey, over one-third of respondents who said they regularly used AI for personal and emotional chats reported that chatbots agreed with them too much. Fifteen percent said the bots make them feel less in touch with reality.

At the same time, nearly 60 percent of those users said chatbots were very or moderately helpful at helping them make personal decisions. Half said they were very or moderately helpful at guiding them to handle social situations.

More…