[2510.15905] Digital Companionship: Overlapping Uses of AI Companions and AI Assistants

Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction arXiv:2510.15905 (cs) [Submitted on 16 Sep 2025 (v1), last revised 28 Feb 2026 (this version, v5)] Title:Digital Companionship: Overlapping Uses of AI Companions and AI Assistants Authors:Aikaterina Manoli, Janet V. T. Pauketat, Ali Ladak, Hayoun Noh, Angel Hsing-Chi Hwang, Jacy Reese Anthis View a PDF of the paper titled Digital Companionship: Overlapping Uses of AI Companions and AI Assistants, by Aikaterina Manoli and 5 other authors View PDF Abstract:Large language models are increasingly used for both task-based assistance and social companionship, yet research has typically focused on one or the other. Drawing on a survey (N = 202) and 30 interviews with high-engagement ChatGPT and Replika users, we characterize digital companionship as an emerging form of human-AI relationship. With both systems, users were drawn to humanlike qualities, such as emotional resonance and personalized responses, and non-humanlike qualities, such as constant availability and inexhaustible tolerance. This led to fluid chatbot uses, such as Replika as a writing assistant and ChatGPT as an emotional confidant, despite their distinct branding. However, we observed challenging tensions in digital companionship dynamics: participants grappled with bounded personhood, forming deep attachments while denying chatbots "real" human qualities, and struggled to reconcile chatbot relationships with social norms. These dynamics raise questions for the desig...