3 papers
cs.AI2026
AI emotional support is better only when chosen, but shifts preferences even when it is not
Yaoxi Shi, Cathy Mengying Fang, Guy LabanPattie Maes +1
People increasingly face a novel decision when seeking emotional support: human or AI. In existing studies, AI's empathic messages are rated as well as or better than humans'. But…
q-bio.NC2026
Do Large Language Models Have Emotions?
Amit Goldenberg, James J. Gross
Do LLMs have emotions? A recent paper from Anthropic reports finding internal representations of emotion concepts in Claude Sonnet 4.5, concluding that the LLM has 'functional emot…
cs.AI2026
Stumbling Into AI Emotional Dependence: How Routine AI Interactions Reshape Human Connection
Yaoxi Shi, Cathy Mengying Fang, Pattie Maez +1
Public discourse and emerging policy typically assume that AI emotional support is a deliberate act: a lonely user consciously seeking comfort from a dedicated companion chatbot. I…