Award-Winning Thesis Studies Young Adults Using AI Chatbots for Friendship – CSUF News
Research wasn’t Emma Bunim’s main objective in coming to Cal State Fullerton. But when a timely topic related to artificial intelligence caught her interest, she ran with it — and ended up winning an award for her thesis.
Bunim ’25 (M.A. communications) studied young adults who lost social contact during the pandemic and how they made up that deficit with more online media, including by customizing AI characters they could converse with like friends.
What she found was a link between social interaction struggles and increased use of online media such as chatbots. Bunim’s study adds to an increasing body of scholarship exploring ways artificial intelligence is used to stand in for human companionship and the impacts on users.
“AI is becoming so prolific, it felt obvious that there should be some consideration of its influence,” Bunim shared. “It’s important to know the ins and outs of how it works.”
An analytical person who likes to dig deeply into topics that interest her, she said, “I was blown away by the opportunity to do research.”
The research idea came from conversations with Bunim’s sister, whose high school friends spent a lot of time online together during the pandemic. This led her to question where young people would turn without strong offline friendships, and for some, the answer was chatbots.
Bunim designed a study using the lens of parasocial theory, which dates to the 1950s and describes the imagined connections or relationships people feel they have with celebrities, sports stars or other public figures. Her research won a Giles T. Brown Thesis Excellence Award.
She interviewed 18- to 22-year-old men and women across the U.S. who frequently used AI chatbots. While some seemed embarrassed to talk about their relationship with a chatbot, those who thought of it as they would a human friend were more candid.
For some, interacting with AI chatbots felt like keeping a diary or getting advice from a trusted source. One widely-used customizable chatbot “felt welcoming, friendly and remained constantly available” compared with a human friend with a busy schedule, Bunim wrote in her thesis.
Micheal McAlexander, chair and professor of communications and Bunim’s research adviser, was impressed by Bunim’s unique approach, which used the long-established parasocial theory to explore how an emerging technology is affecting today’s young adults.
“Technology enhancing social interaction is positive, but technology substituting for social interaction can lead to a dark place for any of us,” he shared.
On the positive side, Bunim said, a chatbot relationship can be a safe place to vent feelings, but “you’re not learning to take others’ needs into consideration.”
A chatbot has no needs or emotions, so it’s not reciprocating friendship, Bunim said, but “it’s making you feel like it is.”
Bunim believes AI tools should be regulated, with more guardrails to protect vulnerable users. She hopes to someday teach media literacy to help people evaluate how much and what kinds of digital media they use and how trustworthy it is.
The pandemic had impacts on people of all ages, but there’s been little research focusing on teens and young adults, Bunim said, adding, “there is a lot of untapped opportunity to understand their experiences.”
Contact:
Alicia Robinson
alrobinson@fullerton.edu
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