Higher use of chatbots like ChatGPT may correspond with increased loneliness and less time spent socializing with other people, according to new research from OpenAI in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Those who spent more time typing or speaking with ChatGPT each day tended to report higher levels of emotional dependence on, and problematic use of, the chatbot, as well as heightened levels of loneliness, according to research released Friday. The findings were part of a pair of studies conducted by researchers at the two organizations and have not been peer reviewed.

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Cathy Mengying Fang, a study co-author and MIT graduate student, said the researchers are wary of people using the findings to conclude that more usage of the chatbot will necessarily have negative consequences for users. The study didn’t control for the amount of time people used the chatbot as a main factor, she said, and didn’t compare to a control group that doesn’t use chatbots.

The researchers hope the work leads to more studies on how humans interact with AI. “Focusing on the AI itself is interesting,” said Pat Pataranutaporn, a study co-author and a postdoctoral researcher at MIT. “But what is really critical, especially when AI is being deployed at scale, is to understand its impact on people.”