The imaginary nature of human-AI relationships: a perspective integrating Buddhist psychology and the psychology of anthropomorphism
Frontiers in Psychology August 24, 2026 Jian-Nor Shih
The rapid growth of AI companionship has raised urgent questions about the psychological mechanisms underlying human-AI relationships. This paper investigates why and how users construct and become entrenched in relationships with AI. Drawing on the Consciousness-Only school of Buddhist psychology, this paper applies the three-natures framework and eight-consciousnesses model. According to this...