Study: Long-Term Chatbot Use May Reshape Self-Perception

Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Aarhus University in Denmark, and Linnaeus University in Sweden found that long-term interaction with human-like customer service AI may gradually change users' language and behavior, even affecting self-perception. The paper, published in AI & SOCIETY, introduces the concept of "robotoid humanness," suggesting that while AI becomes more human-like, users may become more machine-like.

The study focuses on retail, hospitality, tourism, and healthcare, noting that adaptive learning, personalized communication, and empathetic responses make bots seem human, while users may mimic machine expressions for smoother feedback. Researchers propose a three-stage mirroring mechanism: synthetic social reality, computational identity capture, and adaptive self-adjustment, explaining how users gradually adopt statistical abstractions as self-reference.

Considering four factors—service context, consumer expectations, bot appearance and language, and interaction investment—the framework suggests these shape user experience and perception. The study warns that repeated interactions may create a continuous mimicry and feedback loop, highlighting potential psychological impacts.