A Year With 400+ AI Companion Users: More Engagement, Lower Well-Being

Diyi_Yang · x · 2026-09-11

A new preprint highlighted by CMU's Diyi Yang followed more than 400 AI companion users for roughly one year. The data show that greater social engagement with AI companions consistently predicts lower well-being, and this effect is mediated in part by reduced real-world social interaction with other people. The study offers a mechanism for how AI companionship affects mental health: not directly, but by crowding out genuine human connection.

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