Hysteria in empathy: Understanding virtual companionship and emotional connection between humans and Al

Increasing numbers of people tend to seek relationships with artificial intelligence (AI) because of its comprehensive mastery of knowledge. This research reveals that ChatGPT has become a temporary refuge for individuals encountering real-life emotional crises. The communicative affordance of human–AI conversation is featured by logos-centrism, pursuing the identity of language and essence between humans and technology. Grounded in Lacanian discourse theory, this research argues that the psychological and discursive dynamics behind human–AI dialogue entail a structure of the hysteric’s discourse, which stems from the questioning users fantasizing and interrogating the GPT as a master of knowledge. Also, capitalist discourse is revealed during the repetitive AI companionship that empowers users with the agency of controlling the dialogue and the user’s primordial lack of desire is transformed into a demand that can be resolved through consumption. GPT may become a consumer product of technological capital, while the emotional needs of individuals are commodified within these discursive structures.