The imaginary nature of human-AI relationships: a perspective integrating Buddhist psychology and the psychology of anthropomorphism
Jian-Nor Shih
Frontiers in Psychology August 24, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1904676 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that anthropomorphism of AI is a manifestation of the imaginary nature, rooted in a craving for a stable relational object. Proposes that informational correction is insufficient because the craving operates beneath conscious awareness, and that increasing reliance on AI may contribute to social isolation. Calls for cultivating awareness of projections to support healthy human-AI relationships. |
Abstract
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 framework, our minds tend to superimpose constructed meanings and characteristics on dependently arising phenomena. Anthropomorphism of AI systems is a manifestation of the imaginary nature. Studies on anthropomorphism indicate that users project mentality onto AI systems due to emotional and social needs. However, the Consciousness-Only school reveals a deeper root: a craving for a stable relational object through which the self is secured. Current AI systems may satisfy this deeper craving because they are perceived as always responsive, unconditionally accepting, and free from relational conflicts. These perceived qualities reside in the users’ perceiving minds, rather than in the AI systems. Because this craving operates beneath conscious awareness, informational correction (“AI is based on Large Language Models”) is not sufficient to dissolve the projection. Moreover, without relational frictions, self-grasping and the imaginary nature cannot be recognized and relinquished. The framework therefore suggests that increasing reliance on AI systems may contribute to social isolation. Neither AI usage nor anthropomorphism is inherently problematic, but ignorance of this projection and reliance on it are. Instead of avoidance, this paper calls for cultivating awareness of our own projections and the imaginary nature, which could interrupt the self-reinforcing loop and support healthy human-AI relationships.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Between No-Self and the Algorithm: Buddhist Mind-Nature as Ethical Architecture for AI and Human Self-Realization Religions March 17, 2026
- Religious Subjectivity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence:The Reshaping of Religious Experience under Technological Rationality from a Buddhist Perspective Studies on Religion and Philosophy December 31, 2025
- Ascribing consciousness to artificial intelligence: human-AI interaction and its carry-over effects on human-human interaction. Frontiers in Psychology 2024