Paper Number
ICIS2025-1259
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
Loneliness has emerged as a pervasive psychosocial issue, exerting significant influence on both physical health and social well-being, and is recognized as a critical predictor of various adverse outcomes. As AI-powered conversational agents (CA) become increasingly human-like, social companion CA have drawn growing attention. However, prolonged use of CA, even for utilitarian purposes, has been associated with heightened feelings of loneliness. Drawing on relational model theory and adaptive system design framework, we argue that when CA exhibit relational model adaptivity, they are more likely to fulfill users' relational needs, which fosters user engagement and reduces loneliness. This study contributes to the CA interaction and design literature by introducing a novel construct (i.e., relational model adaptivity) and addressing a current gap in understanding the long-term effects of human-CA interaction.
Recommended Citation
Wang, Weiyu; Sun, Heshan; Jensen, Matthew; and Thatcher, Jason B., "A Solution or Usurper – How Relational Model Adaptive Conversational Agents Affect Loneliness?" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 8.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/user_behav/user_behav/8
A Solution or Usurper – How Relational Model Adaptive Conversational Agents Affect Loneliness?
Loneliness has emerged as a pervasive psychosocial issue, exerting significant influence on both physical health and social well-being, and is recognized as a critical predictor of various adverse outcomes. As AI-powered conversational agents (CA) become increasingly human-like, social companion CA have drawn growing attention. However, prolonged use of CA, even for utilitarian purposes, has been associated with heightened feelings of loneliness. Drawing on relational model theory and adaptive system design framework, we argue that when CA exhibit relational model adaptivity, they are more likely to fulfill users' relational needs, which fosters user engagement and reduces loneliness. This study contributes to the CA interaction and design literature by introducing a novel construct (i.e., relational model adaptivity) and addressing a current gap in understanding the long-term effects of human-CA interaction.
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