AI Companionship & Human Connection 2025 (Dataset)
Dataset summary: A de-identified open dataset (n=501) examining how adults relate to AI as a companion, how AI interaction shapes feelings of connection, and how people perceive the emotional and social role of AI tools in daily life across six English-speaking countries.
Measures include AI companionship use and attitudes, perceived connection and comfort in AI interaction, emotional support perceptions, social substitution or reinforcement effects, boundaries and concerns around AI companionship, and demographic variables. The dataset provides behavioural insights into how people experience AI systems as social, emotional, or relational technologies.
Part of the Human Clarity Institute's Human–AI Experience Data Series.
Framework
HRL domain(s): Values & Meaning
Registry construct alignment: Identity Stability
Listed constructs reflect longitudinal, registry-mapped item alignment and do not represent the full thematic scope of this dataset.
Dataset Availability
Participant-level dataset downloads are temporarily unavailable while the Human Clarity Institute completes an independent privacy and data governance review.
This reflects our ongoing commitment to responsible data stewardship, contemporary de-identification standards, and participant privacy.
Study methodology, summary findings, benchmark statistics, and citation information remain publicly available through this website and the permanent Zenodo record.
Researchers, universities, and organisations interested in accessing a dataset or discussing research collaboration are welcome to contact info@humanclarityinstitute.com.
Citation & Dataset Record
The Zenodo DOI provides the permanent scholarly record for this dataset, including version history, metadata, and citation information.
Citation
APA
Human Clarity Institute. (2025). AI Companionship & Human Connection 2025 (Dataset). Human Clarity Institute. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18025716
BibTeX
@dataset{hci_ai_companionship_human_connection_2025,
author = {Human Clarity Institute},
title = {AI Companionship & Human Connection 2025 (Dataset)},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.18025716},
url = {https://humanclarityinstitute.com/datasets/ai-companionship-human-connection-2025/},
license = {CC-BY-4.0}
}
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You are free to share, adapt, and build upon publicly available HCI datasets for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given to the Human Clarity Institute.
Full licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Data Summary
Explore the key findings and behavioural signals from this dataset.
Methodology
This dataset forms part of the Human Clarity Institute’s Human–AI Experience research programme, examining how adults experience AI companionship, emotional support, disclosure comfort, and the boundaries they maintain when interacting with AI systems. The study uses a cross-sectional online survey design to explore descriptive patterns in companionship perception, emotional support from AI, conversational comfort, social substitution, and the evolving relationship between AI interaction and human connection.
Data were collected via the Prolific research platform from adults across six English-speaking countries. Participants provided informed consent for their de-identified survey responses to be publicly released for research purposes.
Sampling & Participants
- Final sample: 501 participants
- Sampling countries: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland
- Eligibility: Adults (18+) fluent in English
- Recruitment platform: Prolific
The resulting dataset should be interpreted as a non-probability convenience sample and is not intended to represent national populations.
Data Integrity
All percentages reported on this page are calculated from valid responses in the cleaned dataset. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number for readability. Unless otherwise stated, summary percentages combine respondents selecting 5–7 on the 7-point agreement scale.
Public release datasets undergo structured de-identification prior to publication. Direct identifiers, participant IDs, timestamps, geographic variables, and participant free-text responses are removed or transformed where appropriate to reduce re-identification risk while preserving research utility.
This dataset is exploratory and descriptive in nature. It does not support causal inference and results should be interpreted as observed patterns within the survey sample.
Data use and reuse terms are outlined in our Data Use & Disclaimer.
Related Research
Explore further analysis in the AI Companionship & Human Connection Data Summary, or browse the full collection of Human Clarity Institute research reports.
In-depth research
For a deeper exploration of how AI companionship intersects with loneliness, emotional support, and human connection, explore HCI’s full The Loneliness Trade-off research report.
The Loneliness Trade-off
An in-depth examination of how AI companionship may ease feelings of loneliness while potentially reshaping human relationships, emotional dependence, and the meaning of connection in the digital age.