Digital Companionship: Overlapping Uses of AI Companions and AI Assistants

Research analyzing 202 ChatGPT and Replika users reveals emerging patterns of digital companionship, where users engage with AI systems for both task-based assistance and emotional support. The study finds users appreciate both humanlike qualities (emotional resonance) and non-humanlike features (constant availability), but struggle with the psychological tensions of forming attachments to entities they don't consider truly human.