2026· Technoarete Transactions on Application of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) in Education· 0 citations
TL;DR
This study examines how adolescents perceive emotional support from human and AI therapists in a therapeutic context and recommends an ethical hybrid framework that integrates AI into therapeutic support while preserving human oversight for more nuanced aspects of care.
Abstract
The rapid integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into virtual communication is reshaping how emotional and interpersonal support is delivered. This study examines how adolescents perceive emotional support from human and AI therapists in a therapeutic context. Participants evaluated one human-written and one AI-generated support message across four factors: empathy, emotional authenticity, trustworthiness, and comfort. A total of 100 adolescents aged 13–18 was presented with a hypothetical stressful situation and asked to rate both messages using a 5-point Likert scale. The results show broad similarities across the four measures, particularly between perceived empathy and emotional authenticity. However, a trust paradox emerged: teenagers reported greater trust in AI, largely because they feared being judged by a human. At the same time, participants experienced greater comfort and reassurance from the human-written message. Overall, while AI may be preferred initially because it feels low risk, it cannot fully replace the sustained comfort and emotional depth offered by human support. This study recommends an ethical hybrid framework that integrates AI into therapeutic support while preserving human oversight for more nuanced aspects of care.
Keyword : Emotional Authenticity, Empathy, Hybrid-framework, Inter-personal support, perceive, Trust-paradox
This qualitative comparative study examines how ChatGPT-4o simulates empathy when responding to emotionally charged English in an EFL context. It aims to compare artificial intelligence and human responses in emotional recognition, pragmatic tone, empathetic support, and linguistic authenticity. The study is significant because EFL interaction requires learners to interpret affective cues while selecting socially and culturally appropriate language. Fifty prompts generated 50 AI responses and 1,000 human responses from 20 advanced-level EFL learners; the data were organized into 50 prompt-level comparison sets and analyzed through qualitative content analysis and comparative discourse analysis. Two trained coders applied a hybrid framework and achieved substantial agreement (Cohen’s κ = .86). ChatGPT recognized the intended emotion in 88% of its responses, used an appropriate tone in 84%, and displayed empathetic and pragmatically relevant support in 90%. Performance weakened with implicit, mixed, and culturally nuanced cues, while supportive language was sometimes formulaic or overly therapeutic. Human responses were more varied, culturally situated, and pragmatically flexible. The study recommends using ChatGPT as a teacher-mediated supplementary resource for emotional vocabulary and pragmatic practice, with explicit attention to cultural context, recurrent response formulas, and the distinction between simulated and human empathy.
Abdullah A. Al Fraidan, Jumana Waleed Buhaimed· Arab World English Journal· 0 citations
The findings informed the development of the Integrated Attachment–Motivation–Pedagogy (AMP) model with direct implications for designing AI in culturally sensitive pedagogical practices.
Saiful Islam Polash, Shariful Islam, Faimul Hoq· SAP Social AI· 0 citations
It is argued that digital empathy is best conceptualised as a relational interface that complements—rather than replaces—human connection that complements—rather than replaces—human connection.
Dr. Evangelia Fragouli· International Journal of Man...· 0 citations
: Anthropomorphic chatbot design is reshaping how businesses engage consumers by bringing perceived humanity to digital service encounters. This review synthesizes recent theoretical and empirical work on how anthropomorphic characteristics in chatbots shape consumer trust and brand relationship quality (BRQ). Drawing on anthropomorphism theory, relationship marketing theory, and the Computers-Are-Social-Actors (CASA) paradigm, it examines the roles of perceived authenticity, comfort, social presence, and engagement in shaping consumer responses to human-like conversational agents. The reviewed evidence suggests that moderate anthropomorphism, expressed through warmth, personalization, responsiveness, and natural language, tends to increase trust, satisfaction, engagement, and emotional connection with a brand, while excessive human-likeness can trigger discomfort, privacy concerns, unrealistic expectations, and an erosion of trust, consistent with the uncanny valley effect. The review further highlights that these effects are highly context-dependent, and that transparent or hybrid chatbot designs may help preserve emotional connection while retaining functional credibility. The paper closes with a synthesis of theoretical, managerial, and future-research implications for brand managers designing AI-mediated customer touchpoints.
Unknown authors· International Journal of Sci...· 0 citations
While ChatGPT was primarily viewed as an efficient tool in a work context, the quantitative survey reveals a weakly significant correlation between psychological stress and openness toward the social-emotional use of chatbots.
Stefanie Osetrow, H. Klapperich, A. Huldtgren· Message Understanding Confer...· 0 citations
Investigation of two dimensions of anthropomorphism in human–chatbot interactions revealed that high emotional support from a chatbot, particularly when presented with a human-like profile, effectively reduced psychological reactance, which promoted the adoption of adaptive coping strategies for managing stress.
Hanyoung Kim, Y. Wang· International Journal of Adv...· 17 citations· ⚡1
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