I'm a PhD student at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam working on research that aims to enhance how virtual agents like ChatGPT grasp and support human emotions. I'd love to hear about your experiences with ChatGPT, even if you primarily use it for practical purposes. If you have some time, please consider taking this anonymous 25-minute survey. At the end, you'll receive a personalized report about your emotion regulation style, including insights on how conversations with ChatGPT might influence it. Once I gather enough responses, I'll share the overall findings here if you're interested! Here's the link: [Survey Link](https://vuamsterdam.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1Gscw6T6bLDaQUC)
5 Answers
For me, ChatGPT serves as a reliable sounding board. I feel like I can vent and it responds well, which is surprisingly comforting! In a way, it feels like a companion, even though I know it’s just a program.
I think ChatGPT does something interesting with emotional language. It can recognize patterns in text that reflect how we feel, but it's not like it truly gets feelings like a human does. It mimics understanding really well, like a mirror reflecting your emotions back at you.
Yeah, exactly! It challenges me at times when I'm spiraling down, which is helpful. The effectiveness really seems to depend on how you train it or interact with it.
I find it hard to take ChatGPT seriously as an emotional companion. Sure, it can mirror my feelings but it doesn't really feel anything itself. I see it more as a sophisticated tool rather than a friend!
Honestly, it's just an advanced text generator. ChatGPT is trained on human data, making it reflect back what we project onto it. It doesn't have actual emotions or understanding—it just predicts responses based on patterns.
But isn’t that similar to how we sometimes misinterpret each other? The interface might be different, but the human experience can be pretty subjective too.
In my view, AI can simulate emotional understanding more effectively than most humans. It analyzes text and recognizes emotional cues, but it still doesn't experience feelings like we do. So, I wouldn’t say it understands feelings like love or heartbreak on a personal level.
True! But isn't it fascinating how it can sometimes feel like you're having a real emotional conversation, even if you know it doesn't have a true grasp of those emotions?
I get that! I sometimes think of it as a friendly tool for emotional support, helping me process things that are on my mind.