AI Companions Are Booming: Are Virtual Friends the Future of Mental Health Support?
The AI companion industry has really taken off over the last couple of years. One marketing analytics company projects that the market for these fascinating services is growing by a rate of 39% a year through the next decade.
A few years ago, almost nobody had heard of the concept outside of a few niche science fiction movies and books like “Her” or “Ex Machina.” However, they are clearly taking off. One survey fro last fall found that 20% of men have had an AI girlfriend before and another more recent survey found that 80% of men would marry their AI girlfriend if it was legal. Many women are using AI companions as well. Services like AI Girlfriend are becoming very popular for this reason.
While most of the discussions centering around AI companions focus on the ways that they are changing romantic relationships, there are some other ways that they are changing our lives too. One way that they are helping is by improving mental health.
AI Companions Can Be the Key to Helping with the Mental Health Crisis
A growing number of people are struggling with mental health issues these days. The National Institutes of Health states that an estimated 22.8% of American adults suffer from at least one mental illness. This equates to 57.8 million people in the United States.
There are many reasons people are struggling with mental health problems. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways that AI companions can be a solution. Some of the benefits that they offer to people struggling with various mental health problems are listed below.
Helping with the Loneliness Epidemic
Last year, the United States Surgeon General reported that America was the in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. There are a lot of reasons that this is a growing problem. Many people spend a lot of time playing video games and using social media, which limits the amount of time that they spend interacting with people in real life. A lot of younger people also missed out on important social experiences during the pandemic, when they would have been learning to interact with their peers.
As a result, many people don’t have strong social connections. This makes it harder for them to be happy and deal with the stresses of everyday life.
This is one way that AI companions can be beneficial for many people. A growing number of lonely people are using AI companions to meet their social needs, which makes them feel less lonely.
Acting as Therapists
Many people struggling to get access to therapy these days. The average therapist charges at least $60 an hour for their services, but some charge over $200 an hour. Many people simply can’t afford to pay for them.
As a result, many people are using AI companions to offer therapy to them instead of working with a human therapist. One survey taken last year found that a third of people said that they would be comfortable with talking to an AI about their mental health issues. This can help them address key mental health issues if they can’t find a therapist to work with.
Get Extra Support for Stressful Work Issues
One of the most common reasons that many people experience mental health problems is that they are stressed out with work. They can significantly improve their mental health by finding somebody to help them automate a lot of issues at work that are causing them stress.
This is another great way that AI companions can help. Many AI companions have the capacity to perform various tasks that may be causing stress at work. This may help people have more time and find better work-life balance, which is crucial for their mental health.
Partners Can Use AI Companions to Avoid Overwhelming Each Other
One of the reasons many people have mental health problems is that they feel the need to meet all of their partners’ emotional needs. This can be a big deal for people whose partners don’t have a lot of friends or family that can be outlets for their mental health problems.
AI companions can be emotional surrogates to help people find relief from their emotional toils. This can keep them from putting too much strain on their human partners, which can be cause undue stress for everyone involved.
AI Companions Can Help Solve a Number of Issues Causing Mental Health Problems
A growing number of people in America are dealing with various mental health problems. The good news is that we have new ways that people can address them. AI companions are one of the latest tools that can help people overcome some of their mental health challenges. They are going to be even more popular in the years to come as people strive to deal with stress, loneliness and other emotional challenges.
