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AI-enabled social support chatbot usage: flowing ambivalence and liminalities

Author

Listed:
  • Hajer Kefi
  • Insaf Khelladi
  • Zied Mani

    (UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, CEROS - Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Organisations et la Stratégie - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre)

  • Nathalie Veg-Sala

Abstract

Interest in social and emotional support chatbots has recently surged, making human – chatbot relationships increasingly common. However, users' subjective experiences with these chatbots often extend beyond simple interactions, reflecting the complex dynamics of liminality and ambivalence. Through a netnographic study of the chatbot Replika, we explore how users experience relational liminality, and control and agency liminality. These dynamics contribute to what we term flowing ambivalence, where users feel both comforted and unsettled, fostering dependency on chatbots despite an awareness of their artificial empathy. Our findings suggest that emotional support chatbots provoke complex emotional states that fluctuate and adapt, underscoring the need for nuanced frameworks to understand how users relate to AI tools.

Suggested Citation

  • Hajer Kefi & Insaf Khelladi & Zied Mani & Nathalie Veg-Sala, 2024. "AI-enabled social support chatbot usage: flowing ambivalence and liminalities," Post-Print hal-05492651, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05492651
    DOI: 10.1080/12460125.2024.2443226
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05492651v1
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