A new study co-authored by Wharton marketing professor Stefano Puntoni finds that when people interact with chatbots programmed to respond with empathy, their feelings of loneliness are significantly abated — at least for a short time. Puntoni said the buzz about what generative artificial intelligence can do for business and productivity has been so big since the release of ChatGPT two years ago that he wanted to explore whether software could also benefit well-being. If chatbots can be programmed to have in-depth conversations on everything from customer service to medical diagnoses, there’s no reason why they can’t keep people company.
