Topic

Human-AI attachment

Research on the emotional bonds people form with conversational systems, including dependence, attachment-figure behaviour and distress when access or manner changes.

Current clusters

science1 publisher

Negative posts nearly tripled on Replika's subreddit after an unannounced update

Harvard and Alberta researchers coded 54,861 subreddit posts around two real AI updates and surveyed 1,452 people. The reaction to Replika's silent change was larger, and it lasted longer than the reaction to GPT-5.

Publishers:phys.org

Reality

Evidence58
Adoption50
Hype gap+12
Incentives60
Confidence55