Abstract

Large language models demonstrate impressive social-emotional abilities. Yet, as we deploy these capabilities and brace for their profound impact on our lives, it is crucial to further understand the nature and limitations of AI's emotional support. In my talk, I aim to explore how LLMs such as GPT-4 compare to humans in providing emotional support and to examine the main reasons behind these perceived differences. I will also discuss how the quality of emotional support is influenced by the awareness that it comes from AI. Finally, I will consider why people may choose to share emotional experiences with humans or with AI, what drives these preferences, and how they impact satisfaction and subsequent interactions. These findings begin to establish a broader understanding of human-AI emotional support.

Speaker Bio

Amit Goldenberg is an assistant professor of Harvard Business School in the Negotiation Organization & Markets unit, an affiliate with Harvard’s Department of Psychology, and a member of the Digital Data and Design Institute (D^3). Professor Goldenberg's research focuses on what makes people emotional in social and group contexts, and how such emotions can be changed when they are unhelpful or undesired. He is particularly interested in how technology is used for both emotion detection and regulation. 

In his work, Professor Goldenberg integrates experimental psychology that examines behavior at the individual and collective levels. To integrate these domains, he employs a multi-method approach that combines behavioral experiments, analysis of data from digital media, computational modeling, and AI.