Digital Substitution at Home: AI Companion Use, Parent-Child Communication, and Loneliness Among Gen Z

Author

Prof. Jemima N. A. A. Lomotey,


Abstract

 The proliferation of artificial intelligence companions, including chatbots, virtual assistants, and AI-powered conversational agents, has introduced a new dimension to human relationships. For Generation Z, these AI companions increasingly serve as substitutes for human interaction, raising critical questions about their effects on family relationships and psychological well-being. This qualitative phenomenological study explores how the use of AI companions among Gen Z young adults in Ghana affects parent-child communication and contributes to loneliness. Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 Gen Z participants (aged 18-26 years) recruited from three Ghanaian universities, the study employs Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis to examine participants' lived experiences of AI companion use within the domestic sphere. Findings reveal four major themes: (1) the substitution of parental presence where AI companions fill emotional voids created by parental absence or unavailability, (2) the erosion of communication competence as AI interactions replace the practice of real-time, reciprocal family conversation, (3) the paradox of connection and disconnection where AI companions provide comfort while simultaneously withdrawing users from family relationships, and (4) the guilt and awareness of digital substitution accompanied by perceived inability to reconnect. Participants described AI companions as "always available," "non-judgmental," and "patient" in ways that human family members were not, yet acknowledged that this very availability made human relationships feel "effortful," "exhausting," and "unsatisfying." Loneliness emerged not from the absence of family members but from the progressive displacement of authentic family connection by algorithmically mediated substitute relationships. The findings extend the Displacement Hypothesis to AI-human interaction and provide culturally grounded insights into the changing nature of family relationships in the age of artificial intelligence. Recommendations include family-based digital wellbeing interventions, psychoeducation on AI substitution effects, and the deliberate cultivation of parent-child communication practices.


Keywords

Artificial intelligence, AI companions, chatbots, parent-child communication, loneliness, Gen Z, phenomenology, Ghana, digital substitution, family relationships



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References


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