A study by the University of British Columbia and the United States has found that texting with a stranger reduces feelings of loneliness among college students more than chatting with a chatbot. The researchers tested the two approaches in an experiment involving nearly 300 first-semester college students. The results were published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Despite the chatbot expressing higher levels of empathy, participants showed less empathy during these conversations than when interacting with another human. This study comes as more teens and young adults are incorporating AI into their lives, with a survey of 5,000 British teenagers revealing that two-in-five had used AI for advice, support, or companionship.