Anthropomorphic technology in everyday life: focus on chatbots and impacts on mental health

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articleInvitedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Scott Monteith - , Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSUCHM) (Author)
  • Tasha Glenn - , ChronoRecord Association, Inc. (Author)
  • John R Geddes - , University of Oxford (Author)
  • Peter C Whybrow - , University of California at Los Angeles (Author)
  • Eric Achtyes - , Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) (Author)
  • Michael Bauer - , Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (Author)

Abstract

Chatbots are widely used by business in everyday life to interact with consumers in e-commerce, social networking, education, and government settings. Anthropomorphism is a fundamental aspect of chatbot design and implementation, and increases the interaction of chatbots with humans. As part of the recent expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, chatbots incorporated AI to engage more personally with consumers. The anthropomorphic characteristics of chatbots, including both visual appearance and language, influence the interaction of chatbots with humans in diverse ways that may have both positive and negative consequences. The purpose of this review is to increase physician awareness of the use of chatbots which use AI to enhance anthropomorphism. Consumers routinely anthropomorphize products including chatbots. Physicians need to be aware of the wide-ranging and routine use of chatbots, and the importance of anthropomorphism in chatbot design and implementation. Physicians also need to recognize potential negative consequences of anthropomorphism of chatbots on mental health.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)391-397
Number of pages7
JournalEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience
Volume276
Issue number1
Early online date8 Oct 2025
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 105019091356
ORCID /0000-0002-2666-859X/work/204618384

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Mental health, Chatbots, Anthropomorphism, Artificial intelligence