Human-AI Interactions: Cognitive, Behavioral, and Emotional Impacts

2025-10-20

AI Summary

This study addresses the multifaceted impact of artificial intelligence on human cognition, behavior, and emotion—highlighting both cognitive augmentation (e.g., enhanced memory, creativity, engagement) and anthropocentric risks, including overreliance, diminished critical thinking, skill atrophy, and heightened anxiety. Method: Adopting a novel psychological tripartite framework (cognitive–behavioral–affective), the paper conducts an interdisciplinary literature review integrating insights from cognitive science, behavioral research, and affective computing. Contribution/Results: It identifies critical gaps—particularly the scarcity of longitudinal empirical evidence and context-sensitive evaluation metrics—and advocates for a responsibility-driven, context-aware AI design paradigm. The study calls for establishing human-centered, long-term longitudinal research infrastructures and empirically grounded assessment frameworks to ensure equitable balance between technological empowerment and human well-being.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Emotional Intelligence
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Affective Computing
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Bias, Fairness & Equity

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Research challenges in human and human-AI computation
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization

Abstract

As stories of human-AI interactions continue to be highlighted in the news and research platforms, the challenges are becoming more pronounced, including potential risks of overreliance, cognitive offloading, social and emotional manipulation, and the nuanced degradation of human agency and judgment. This paper surveys recent research on these issues through the lens of the psychological triad: cognition, behavior, and emotion. Observations seem to suggest that while AI can substantially enhance memory, creativity, and engagement, it also introduces risks such as diminished critical thinking, skill erosion, and increased anxiety. Emotional outcomes are similarly mixed, with AI systems showing promise for support and stress reduction, but raising concerns about dependency, inappropriate attachments, and ethical oversight. This paper aims to underscore the need for responsible and context-aware AI design, highlighting gaps for longitudinal research and grounded evaluation frameworks to balance benefits with emerging human-centric risks.

Problem

• Investigates cognitive risks like diminished critical thinking and skill erosion
• Explores emotional impacts including dependency and inappropriate AI attachments
• Addresses behavioral challenges of overreliance and degradation of human agency

Innovation

• Surveying AI impacts through psychological triad lens
• Highlighting need for responsible context-aware AI design
• Proposing longitudinal research for human-centric risk evaluation