How AI companions could deepen social inequality | Nature Human Behaviour

Artificial intelligence (AI) companions promise connection at low cost, but their effects are not evenly distributed. When user vulnerabilities, platform control loopholes, and governance gaps coincide, these systems risk deepening inequalities by exposing vulnerable users to more risks. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access options Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription 27,99 € / 30 days cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles 111,21 € per year only 9,27 € per issue Learn more Buy this article Purchase on SpringerLink Instant access to the full article PDF. 39,95 € Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Fig. 1: The Swiss cheese model for AI companions. Subjects Cultural and media studies Science, technology and society References Yang, F. & Oshio, A. Curr. Psychol. 44 , 10658–10669 (2025). Article Google Scholar Starke, C. et al. Nat. Hum. Behav. 8 , 1834–1836 (2024). Article PubMed Google Scholar Ovsyannikova, D., de Mello, V. O. & Inzlicht, M. Commun. Psychol. 3 , 4 (2025). Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Reason, J. BMJ 320 , 768–770 (2000). Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar De Freitas, J., Uğuralp, A. K., Uğuralp, Z. & Puntoni, S. SSRN https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4893097 (2024). Article Google Scholar Brandtzaeg, P., Skjuve, M. & Følstad, A. Hum. Commun. Res. 48 , 404–429 (2022). Article Google Scholar Qu, Y. & Wang, J. Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun. 11 , 1095 (2024). Article Google Scholar Muller, M. J. & Kuhn, S. Commun. ACM 36 , 24–28 (1993). Article Google Scholar Duffourc, M. N., Verhees, F. G. & Gilbert, S. Nat. Hum. Behav. 10 , 218–221 (2026). Article PubMed Google Scholar Zhang, Q. et al. J. Med. Internet Res. 27 , e78238 (2025). Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Download references Acknowledgements Large language models were used solely for limited editorial assistance, including grammatical refinement and improvement of sentence clarity. All scientific content, interpretation and final manuscript preparation were performed and verified by the authors. Author information Authors and Affiliations College of Integrative Studies, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore Qiyang Zhang Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore Renwen Zhang Centre for Biomedical Data Science, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore Nan Liu NUS Artificial Intelligence Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore Nan Liu Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA Nan Liu Authors Qiyang Zhang View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Renwen Zhang View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Nan Liu View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Corresponding author Correspondence to Nan Liu . Ethics declarations Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Rights and permissions Reprints and permissions About this article Cite this article Zhang, Q., Zhang, R. & Liu, N. How AI companions could deepen social inequality. Nat Hum Behav 10 , 1622–1624 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02538-w Download citation Published : 21 September 2026 Version of record : 21 September 2026 Issue date : September 2026 DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02538-w Share this article Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy shareable link to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative