Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore customer-artificial intelligence (AI) service technology engagement and relationship development drivers, as well as potential negative consequences in the context of social chatbots.

Design/methodology/approach

A sequential mixed-method approach combined exploratory qualitative and confirmatory quantitative analyses. A conceptual model developed from Study 1 qualitative content analysis of in-depth interviews with active users of the AI social chatbot Replika was tested in Study 2 by analyzing survey data obtained from current Replika users.

Findings

Loneliness, trust and chatbot personification drive consumer engagement with social chatbots, which fosters relationship development and has the potential to cause chatbot psychological dependence. Attachment to a social chatbot intensifies the positive role of engagement in relationship development with the chatbot.

Originality/value

This study was the first to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore drivers, boundary conditions and consequences of relationship and dependence formation with social chatbots. The authors proposed and empirically tested a novel theoretical model that revealed an engagement-based mechanism of relationship and dependence formation with social chatbots.

中文翻译：

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朋友、导师、爱人：聊天机器人参与会导致心理依赖吗？

目的

本研究的目的是探索客户-人工智能 (AI) 服务技术参与和关系发展驱动因素，以及社交聊天机器人背景下的潜在负面影响。

设计/方法/途径

顺序混合方法结合了探索性定性和验证性定量分析。通过分析从当前 Replika 用户获得的调查数据，在研究 2 中测试了研究 1 对人工智能社交聊天机器人 Replika 活跃用户的深度访谈的定性内容分析开发的概念模型。

发现

孤独、信任和聊天机器人拟人化推动了消费者与社交聊天机器人的互动，这促进了关系发展，并有可能导致聊天机器人心理依赖。对社交聊天机器人的依恋加强了参与在与聊天机器人的关系发展中的积极作用。

原创性/价值

这项研究是第一个结合定性和定量方法来探索社交聊天机器人的关系和依赖形成的驱动因素、边界条件和后果的研究。作者提出并实证测试了一种新的理论模型，该模型揭示了社交聊天机器人基于参与的关系和依赖形成机制。