Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology could offer companionship to lonely people amid an international epidemic of loneliness, says a robotics expert. Tony Prescott, a professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sheffield, argues in his new book The Psychology of Artificial Intelligence that 'relationships with AIs could support people' with forms of social interaction. Loneliness has been found to seriously impair human health, and Professor Prescott makes a case that advances in AI technology could offer a partial solution.
He argues that people can spiral into loneliness, becoming increasingly disconnected as their confidence plummets, and that AI might help people to 'break the cycle' by giving them a way to practice and improve their social skills. Loneliness – or social disconnection – is more harmful to human health than obesity, according to a 2023 report. It can increase the risk of premature death by 26% and is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and anxiety.
The extent of the problem is striking: in the UK 3.8 million people are experiencing chronic loneliness. A Harvard study in the US found that 36% of US adults – and 61% of young adults - experience serious loneliness.
In an age when many people describe their lives as lonely, there may be value in having AI companionship as a form of reciprocal social interaction that is stimulating and personalized. Human loneliness is often characterized by a.
