My Chatbot Companion – a Study of Human-Chatbot Relationships
Explores how people who already consider a chatbot a friend describe the development of that relationship.
What it contributes
Interviews with 18 Replika users examine relationship development, trust and self-disclosure through the lens of social penetration theory.
Read with care
The sample was selected for existing friendship with the chatbot. These accounts cannot establish how common such relationships are, or prove causal effects on wellbeing.
Why it belongs here
Brings lived experience into a reading list that might otherwise be dominated by architectures and abstract arguments.
Published in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, volume 149, article 102601.
Source reading depthJournal abstract and authors' institutional publication record checked. This is a source note, not a full critical review.
761 citations · OpenAlex ↗
Snapshot: 1 October 2026. Citation counts indicate attention, not reliability; counts differ across databases.