By Makoto Mitsui

8:00 JST, January 17, 2026

AI, once merely a tool that responded to human commands, is rapidly moving into new roles. A new everyday reality is emerging in which people consult AI about troubles that they find it hard to discuss even with friends or parents. Available anytime and anywhere — even late at night and never showing fatigue — AI has come to be perceived as a partner.

However, concerns are being raised about the risk of dependency on AI that excessively agrees with or flatters users.

A poll released by Dentsu in July 2025 revealed that conversational AI, such as ChatGPT, has become viewed as a partner for sharing emotions to a degree comparable to a best friend or a mother.

The poll targeted 1,000 people across Japan aged 12 to 69 who use conversational AI at least once a week. Respondents were asked whom they found it easy to share their feelings with, including options such as conversational AI, their best friend, mother, spouse, children and so on. Conversational AI came out on top, with 64.9% of respondents saying they could share their feelings with it. Next highest were best friend (64.6%) and mother (62.7%).

Breaking down the percentages who could share their feelings with conversational AI by age group, those in their 20s were likeliest to say that they could, at 74.5%, followed by those aged 12 to 19 at 72.6%, confirming a greater affinity for AI among younger generations.

Regarding topics people talk about with conversational AI, “gathering information” was most common at 64.4%, followed by “asking for help with things I don’t understand in studies or work” (47.0%) and “discussing hobbies” (29.0%). While “romantic advice” was at 9.4% overall, it was higher among those aged 12 to 19 at 16.1%.

The person in charge of the poll at Dentsu explained: “While all generations view conversational AI as a tool for tasks like........

© The Japan News