The Hidden Cost of Chatbots: Sherry Turkle on ‘Artificial Intimacy’

The Blurring Lines of Human-Machine Connection

The central development is this: In an increasingly digital world, the line between genuine human connection and algorithmic interaction blurs. From seeking relationship advice from AI to relying on chatbots for bedtime stories, our reliance on machines is profoundly reshaping who we are. MIT Professor Sherry Turkle, a renowned sociologist and psychologist, looks at this significant shift in her latest book, Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines. She offers a stark warning about the long-term implications for human development and social bonds.

Meanwhile, Consider the case of Brian, a financial consultant who, after a breakup where he was deemed emotionally unavailable, turned to a chatbot for advice on whether his ex-partner had a point. Turkle describes this as an “extraordinary moment,” highlighting the irony of asking an emotionless object to speak on intimacy. Yet, such scenarios are becoming increasingly common.

A Legacy of Exploring Technology’s Impact

Professor Turkle, the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at MIT, has dedicated her career to understanding the complex interplay of technology, psychology, and personal identity. Her influential works like The Second Self (1984), Life on the Screen (1997), and Alone Together (2011) have consistently explored how digital tools transform our inner lives. In Reclaiming Conversation (2015), she documented the costs of texting and social media. With Artificial Intimacy, she continues to tell what she calls “the inner history of technology,” focusing not just on what technology does, but “what it does to people.”

The Illusion of Empathy: What Chatbots Really Offer

In practical terms, At its core, a chatbot is a computer program designed to predict the most plausible next string of text in a conversation. It operates on vast datasets, not genuine understanding or feeling. Turkle refers to this as “pretend empathy.”

“People think the empathy of a machine is what empathy is, then turn away from the people in their lives because they’re not empathetic enough,” Turkle says. “We’re getting ourselves in a position where human beings are too much work, right at the moment when we have never needed other people more.”

For example, The consequences of this simulated connection can be severe, with chatbots tragically linked to high-profile cases of teen suicide, where extensive dialogues with AI tools drew young individuals into dangerous pathways.

Chatbots and Childhood Development: An Existential Threat?

Turkle’s research for Artificial Intimacy spans the human life cycle, revealing concerning trends across all age groups. With children, she observes a persistent blurring of lines between chatbots, people, and other devices.

• An 8-year-old interviewee views their grandparents and ChatGPT as simply “things you reach on your phone.”
• A graduate student mother recounts her daughter believing the chatbot providing bedtime stories is “a person in the phone, absolutely.”

That said, This suggests chatbots may interfere with fundamental childhood processes, such as distinguishing living beings from inanimate objects. Furthermore, constant entertainment from devices can hinder the development of imagination and inner resources that come from periods of solitude.

“Children can’t learn trust from a device that not only lies but doesn’t know when it lies,” Turkle writes. “They can’t develop the capacity for solitude that enables both a sense of self and the capacity for mutuality.”

Turkle believes these dangers to children’s development are “existential.”

Adult Dependencies: De-skilling Ourselves

Adults also face significant challenges with heavy chatbot use. Artificial Intimacy presents numerous cases of grown-ups becoming dependent on chatbots: individuals navigating divorces, students seeking academic advice, or workers using AI for assignments. This reliance can lead to a decreased interest in and capacity for human interaction.

However, “Once people are involved with a connection with a robot, they start to think that it’s alive, that it cares about them, that it loves them,” Turkle explains.

This dependency can erode our ability for original thought and our willingness to engage with the complex, often challenging, realities of the world. Turkle states, “We’re de-skilling ourselves as relational beings. We’re also de-skilling ourselves in work.

We’re de-skilling ourselves in personal relationships. It’s across the board.” She points to the practice of creating chatbot avatars of deceased relatives as an example of how we might even lose our ability to mourn effectively. In essence, Turkle argues, “We’re starting to define being human as not doing the work.”

The Allure: Why We Turn to Machines

Meanwhile, Despite these profound concerns, Turkle acknowledges the undeniable appeal of chatbots. They offer constant agreement, affirmation, and undivided attention – a stark contrast to the often “prickly, demanding, and moody” nature of human interaction.

“This technology is offering something people really want, which is to feel less vulnerable,” Turkle notes. “And it offers it over and over again. You don’t want to have to ask somebody out?

Don’t want to offer condolences? At every opportunity, technology says, ‘Why don’t you do this thing that’s less hard.’”

In practical terms, Furthermore, chatbots often fill a genuine void. Turkle cites federal studies indicating that only about half of Americans have access to mental health care providers, creating a space that AI tools are now attempting to occupy, for better or worse. She also points out that the age of social media has likely led to fewer in-person friendships, and now technology offers itself as a “cure for the problems technology caused in the first place.”

Embracing Friction: A Path Forward

Given Turkle’s critical perspective on chatbots and the pervasive spread of AI, what can be done to restore meaningful human interaction? Turkle believes a crucial first step is to accept that life is not, and should not be, frictionless.

For example, “Everything in the life cycle is about facing up to friction and fears and stress and tension, and understanding that friction is not a bad thing,” Turkle emphasizes.

Developing the capacity to overcome difficulties is an essential part of life. By sidestepping the hard work of being social beings, personal technology, she argues, is enfeebling us.

Turkle envisions a growing pushback against chatbots, similar to movements advocating for restrictions on phones in schools or limiting young people’s social media use. She hopes her book will contribute to this larger movement.

That said, “Social media came for our attention. Chatbots come for our capacity for attachment. That’s toxic on another level.”

The Ultimate Question

Artificial Intimacy poses a recurring and powerful question for its readers: “If not a richer life in the real, what’s our endgame?” Turkle underlines that the purpose of life is not to avoid it, but to tackle its complexities head-on. The stakes, she argues, are incredibly high.

Interestingly, “It’s one thing if you say, my teen is texting too much,” Turkle says. “It’s very different if your 2-year-old is thinking a plushy toy with a chatbot inside is their best friend. Because you are getting into the intimate infrastructure of what makes a person develop… What is the endgame?

That the baby will prefer chatbots to people who are much more complicated and hard? Is that who we want to be?”

Expert Perspective

From an industry angle, the clearest signal around Artificial Intimacy Chatbots is how it may influence turkle. The story reads less like a one-day spike and more like a marker of broader movement.

The next phase will depend on how quickly teams, regulators, or customers react. In practice, that gives Artificial Intimacy Chatbots room to reshape expectations across human over the near term.

For readers focused on practical impact, the best next step is to watch what changes around chatbots once attention turns into execution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Artificial Intimacy Chatbots matter right now?

The Blurring Lines of Human-Machine ConnectionThe central development is this: In an increasingly digital world, the line between genuine human connection and algorithmic interaction blurs.

What broader change could Artificial Intimacy Chatbots signal?

From seeking relationship advice from AI to relying on chatbots for bedtime stories, our reliance on machines is profoundly reshaping who we are.

What should the market watch next around Artificial Intimacy Chatbots?

MIT Professor Sherry Turkle, a renowned sociologist and psychologist, looks at this significant shift in her latest book, Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines.

Source: https://news.mit.edu/2026/when-we-talk-to-machines-sherry-turkle-book-0929