Do humans connect with AI that acts like them? We investigated "similarity-attraction" in human-AI interaction using GPT-4. In three experiments, the AI was told to mimic specific psychological traits: anxiety, extraversion, and a comprehensive personality profile.

 

Results showed a consistent pattern: participants affiliated significantly more with AI that mirrored their own psychology. Anxious users connected with anxious agents, and extraverts preferred extraverted agents. This preference for an "AI doppelgänger" was reflected in both self-reported connection and the sentiment of user messages. The data supports the use of linguistic mirroring to build trust and rapport in AI-based companionship and clinical settings.

 

Dan Lametti is a Professor of Psychology at Acadia University. He holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from McGill University and completed his postdoctoral training in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. While his background is in cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics—specifically, the perception and production of language—his research has recently expanded to examine language-based human-AI interactions. He investigates the psychological dynamics of how people engage with artificial intelligence, focusing on measurement and affiliation.