Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Loneliness is a growing public health concern, yet scalable applications and systems capable of recognizing and responding to users’ affective states remain limited. This study designs and evaluates ClareAI, an empathetic virtual companion agent developed to support individuals experiencing loneliness. Integrating insights from loneliness research, social presence theory, and affective computing, we derive and instantiate design principles emphasizing emotional attunement, relational continuity, embodied presence, and psychological safety. A formative pre–post study with repeated seven-day use shows significant reductions in self-reported loneliness and high perceived empathy and social presence. Findings demonstrate how affect-aware conversational design shapes users’ cognitive and emotional perceptions, advancing principled guidance for developing responsible virtual companions that support emotional well-being.
Paper Number
1783
Recommended Citation
Abazari, Armin; Chatterjee, Samir; Bose, Nayana; and Faridani, Parzon-Eyzadpur, "Designing AI that Cares: Empathetic Conversational Agents as Virtual Companions to Address Loneliness" (2026). AMCIS 2026 Proceedings. 17.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2026/sig_hci/sig_hci/17
Designing AI that Cares: Empathetic Conversational Agents as Virtual Companions to Address Loneliness
Loneliness is a growing public health concern, yet scalable applications and systems capable of recognizing and responding to users’ affective states remain limited. This study designs and evaluates ClareAI, an empathetic virtual companion agent developed to support individuals experiencing loneliness. Integrating insights from loneliness research, social presence theory, and affective computing, we derive and instantiate design principles emphasizing emotional attunement, relational continuity, embodied presence, and psychological safety. A formative pre–post study with repeated seven-day use shows significant reductions in self-reported loneliness and high perceived empathy and social presence. Findings demonstrate how affect-aware conversational design shapes users’ cognitive and emotional perceptions, advancing principled guidance for developing responsible virtual companions that support emotional well-being.
Comments
SIG HCI