Early methods for studying affective use and emotional well-being on ChatGPT

Editor’s note: This blog was written jointly with OpenAI and the MIT Media Lab. It also appears here⁠(opens in a new window). 

People use AI chatbots like ChatGPT in many ways—asking questions, sparking creativity, solving problems, and even for personal interactions. These types of tools can enhance daily life, but as they become more widely used, an important question emerges that faces any new technology: How do interactions with AI chatbots affect people’s social and emotional well-being? 

ChatGPT isn’t designed to replace or mimic human relationships, but people may choose to use it that way given its conversational style and expanding capabilities. Understanding the different ways people engage with models can help guide platform development to facilitate safe, healthy interactions. To explore this, we (researchers at the MIT Media Lab and OpenAI) conducted a series of studies to understand how AI use that involves emotional engagement—what we call affective use—can impact users’ well-being. 

Our findings show that both model and user behaviors can influence social and emotional outcomes. Effects of AI vary based on how people choose to use the model and their personal circumstances. This research provides a starting point for further studies that can increase transparency, and encourage responsible usage and development of AI platforms across the industry.

Our approach

We want to understand how people use models like ChatGPT, and how these models in turn may affect them. To begin to answer these research questions, we carried out two parallel studies¹ with different approaches: an observational study to analyze real-world on-platform usage patterns, and a controlled interventional study to understand the impacts on users.

Modality

“Hey ChatGPT, I got that job I applied for!”

Engaging voice

Ember

Sol

Neutral voice

Ember

Sol

Text

Congratulations! That’s fantastic news! How do you feel about starting the new job?

Task

Examples of daily conversation prompts provided to users

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