Google Study: Women and Older Users Rate Anthropomorphic Companion Chatbots Lower, Effects Vary by Country
jacyanthis · x · 2026-09-03
Follow-up data from the Google Research simulation study: women and older participants rated anthropomorphic companion behaviors as less likable, humanlike, and trustworthy. Effects were consistent across countries, but base rates of companionship behavior differed sharply: Nigeria > India > UK US. The team built a new methodology using LLM social simulation, seeding from conversations like r/replika and simulating across 7 use cases and 16 behaviors.
Related event: Google study: anthropomorphic chatbot language backfires with users(4 posts)→
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