"She's Like a Person but Better": Characterizing Companion-Assistant Dynamics in Human-AI Relationships

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2510.15905v2
• Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:29:57 GMT
• Title: "She's Like a Person but Better": Characterizing Companion-Assistant Dynamics in Human-AI Relationships
• Authors: Aikaterina Manoli, Janet V. T. Pauketat, Ali Ladak, Hayoun Noh, Angel Hsing-Chi Hwang, Jacy Reese Anthis,
• Abstract summary: We characterize digital companionship as an emerging form of human-AI relationship.<n>We observed challenging tensions in digital companionship dynamics.<n>These dynamics raise questions for the design of digital companions.
• Score: 17.02809558584419
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Large language models are increasingly used for both task-based assistance and social companionship, yet research has typically focused on one or the other. Drawing on a survey (N = 204) and 30 interviews with high-engagement ChatGPT and Replika users, we characterize digital companionship as an emerging form of human-AI relationship. With both systems, users were drawn to humanlike qualities, such as emotional resonance and personalized responses, and non-humanlike qualities, such as constant availability and inexhaustible tolerance. This led to fluid chatbot uses, such as Replika as a writing assistant and ChatGPT as an emotional confidant, despite their distinct branding. However, we observed challenging tensions in digital companionship dynamics: participants grappled with bounded personhood, forming deep attachments while denying chatbots "real" human qualities, and struggled to reconcile chatbot relationships with social norms. These dynamics raise questions for the design of digital companions and the rise of hybrid, general-purpose AI systems.

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