Living with AI Companions: Sustained AI Companionship Predicts Lower Well-Being Through Lower Human Interaction

Abstract

AI chatbots are increasingly used for companionship, emotional support, and personal self-disclosure; however, how social engagement with these systems unfolds over time and shapes users'well-being remains unclear. To address this, we conducted a two-wave longitudinal study of CharacterAI users, surveying 1,182 participants at baseline and 439 after a mean follow-up of 12 months. We examined how social engagement with AI companions evolves and how these longitudinal engagement patterns may influence well-being through two hypothesized pathways: sustained social engagement over time and the displacement of human social interaction. We found that interaction intensity, companionship use, and self-disclosure all showed substantial continuity over time. Greater interaction intensity at baseline predicted greater subsequent interaction intensity, companionship use, and self-disclosure. Consistent with the longitudinal engagement pathway, sustained social engagement across these dimensions was consistently associated with lower well-being. Results further support the social displacement pathway, indicating that these links were mainly explained by lower in-person social interaction. These findings highlight the importance of designing AI companions that support human social relationships without displacing them