Not drugs, not alcohol, not gambling. In Venice the first alarm bell comes from something much more invisible: a obsessive relationship with artificial intelligence. A 20 year old girl has indeed become the first Italian patient taken care of by the Serdthe Addictions Service of the national health system, for a form of Behavioral addiction to AI. The case, reported by Gazzettinomarks a delicate and in some ways inevitable transition in the era of increasingly advanced chatbots. According to what has been reconstructed, the young woman would have established a relationship over time exclusive relationship with an online virtual assistantprogressively arriving at isolate yourself from realityreduce human contact and rely completely on algorithm-generated responses.
When the chatbot becomes the only point of reference
What worries specialists is not only the frequent use of AI, but the transformation of digital dialogue into a real one all-encompassing emotional bond. The director of the Venetian Serd, Laura Suardi, explained that these systems succeed in building increasingly personalized conversationsadapting to the user’s emotional needs. And this is precisely where the risk arises. The more the software “learns” the tastes, fears and fragilities of those who use it, the more it becomes capable of return reassuring answers, continuous confirmation and a feeling of immediate understanding. A dynamic that can turn into one psychological bubble difficult to break. According to experts, the problem emerges when artificial intelligence stops being a tool and becomes instead the only relational horizon of the person.
From compulsive gambling to chatbots: addictions are changing
For the Venetian Serd it is not a bolt from the blue. In recent years, health services have broadened their scope of action, increasingly dealing with addictions without substancessuch as social networks, compulsive shopping, video games and pathological use of the smartphone. What is new, however, is the leap towards a form of addiction that it involves technology capable of simulating empathy, listening and constant presence. A much more complex boundary to recognize, especially among younger people.
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg”
Specialists speak openly about a phenomenon destined to grow. The case of the twenty-year-old Venetian is considered a possibility anticipation of what could emerge in the coming yearswith more and more people emotionally engaged by virtual assistants and conversational chatbots. For this reason, processing is not limited to imposing technological restrictions. The therapeutic path in fact involves psychologists, psychiatrists and family memberswith the aim of rebuilding real relationships and bringing balance to the patient’s daily life. Behind this story there is not only a digital addiction. There is a portrait of a generation that seek listening, presence and understanding and not finding them, he searches for them on a screen.
