Abstract:
The growing utilization of conversational artificial intelligence (CAI) among university students has plenty of concerns about its consequences on psychological and societal effects. The present study has looked at association between conversational AI dependency, self disclosure to others and social connectedness among Pakistani university students. Data from 300 students studying at public and private universities in Lahore between the ages of 17 and 28 years was obtained using cross sectional quantitative design. Standardized assessments measuring social connectedness, self discloure to others, and conversational AI reliance were filled out by respondents. 50% of students found themselves utilizing conversational AI numerous times a day, according to descriptive statistics. Conversational AI reliance has been proved to be negatively connected with social connectedness (r=-.297, p<.01) and strongly associated with self disclosure (r=.416, p<.01), in line with results of correlation analysis. Conversational AI reliance has been demonstrated to be important predictor of both social connectedness (B= 0.416, p<.001). As the indirect effect was not major or significant, the analysis of mediation suggested that self disclosure failed to mediate the relationship between conversational AI reliance and social connectedness. In summary, the outcomes tells that conversational AI use fails to enhance social connectedness but it does enhances likelihood of students to open up to others. The research also stresses how social settings and stressful circumstances disclosure affect the mental wellness of university students.
