From Social Media to Empathic Artificial Intelligence

doi:10.1017/9781009639057.023

Chapter 19 - From Social Media to Empathic Artificial Intelligence

Applying Past Lessons to Future Technologies

from Part III - Beyond Text: Embodiment and Robots

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2026

Micaela Rodriguez ,

Matt Motyl and

Juliana Schroeder

Edited by

Anat Perry and

C. Daryl Cameron

Show author details

Anat Perry: Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
C. Daryl Cameron: Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University

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Summary

Social technologies have profoundly transformed how people communicate, form relationships, and experience social connection. This chapter synthesizes two decades of research on social media and messaging platforms to extract lessons for new forms of social technology, such as empathic artificial intelligence. We propose that prior attempts to identify universal effects of social technology on connection are largely uninformative due to substantial heterogeneity across studies. We highlight and briefly review three key sources of heterogeneity: (1) the type and features of the technology, (2) how it is used, and (3) who is using it. We recommend that future research explicitly consider these sources of heterogeneity to better understand how technological advances will affect social life – and how they can be better designed to promote connection.

Keywords

Social Technology Social Media Empathy Artificial Intelligence Social Connection Messaging Loneliness Well-Being

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Type: Chapter
Information: Empathy and Artificial Intelligence
Challenges, Advances and Ethical Considerations
, pp. 183 - 194

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009639057.023 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2026

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