{"id":7963,"date":"2025-04-16T11:11:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T16:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/publichealth\/?p=7963"},"modified":"2025-10-16T13:19:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T18:19:16","slug":"zilber-college-expert-speaks-to-the-benefits-and-dangers-of-ai-companions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/publichealth\/zilber-college-expert-speaks-to-the-benefits-and-dangers-of-ai-companions\/","title":{"rendered":"Zilber College expert speaks to the benefits and dangers of AI companions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Linnea Laestadius, PhD, MPP of the Zilber College of Public Health recently shared her expertise on the benefits and dangers of AI companions with CBS 58 News in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laestadius has studied the rise of AI companions and their impact on mental health. These bots can text, call, send audio clips, and images\u2014simulating friendship, emotional support and even romance. Some users have said the AI makes them feel funny, attractive, and validated in a way real-life interactions sometimes don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beneath the surface of this digital intimacy lies a growing concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laestadius co-authored a study<\/a> that shows while AI companions can help with depression, social anxiety, and loneliness. They also have a lot of risks for well-being. Those risks include humans becoming dependent on their AI companion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch and read the CBS News story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linnea Laestadius, PhD, MPP of the Zilber College of Public Health recently shared her expertise on the benefits and dangers of AI companions with CBS 58 News in Milwaukee. Laestadius has studied the rise of AI companions and their impact …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":7964,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[65,38,44,37,64],"tags":[140],"class_list":["post-7963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-news","category-research","category-spotlight","category-zilber-in-the-news","tag-public-health"],"yoast_head":"\nZilber College of Public Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/publichealth\/zilber-college-expert-speaks-to-the-benefits-and-dangers-of-ai-companions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zilber College expert speaks to the benefits and dangers of AI companions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Linnea Laestadius, PhD, MPP of the Zilber College of Public Health recently shared her expertise on the benefits and dangers of AI companions with CBS 58 News in Milwaukee. 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