We Prefer AI’s Empathy Over That of Humans’: A Study’s Unexpected Findings

Send us Fan Mail When you’re hurting, who do you reach for? In four studies, people chose humans. Then they read the replies, and the AI’s felt more empathetic and made them feel more heard. Even against crisis responders. 🔹 Why do we avoid what helps? 🔹 What does “perceived effort” reveal about caring? 🔹 Can a machine teach us to listen better? 📖 Read: https://helioxpodcast.substack.com 🎥 YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd5BbCEeC3Z6dp-nNjWRbBw 🎙️ Available for Broadcast: https://exchange.prx.org/group_accounts/253118-heliox_where_evidence_meets_empathy References: People choose to receive human empathy despite rating AI empathy higher This is Heliox: Where Evidence Meets Empathy Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas. Support the show Disclosure: This podcast uses AI-generated synthetic voices for a material portion of the audio content, in line with Apple Podcasts guidelines. We make rigorous science accessible, accurate, and unforgettable. Produced by Michelle Bruecker and Scott Bleackley, it features reviews of emerging research and ideas from leading thinkers, curated under our creative direction with AI assistance for voice, imagery, and composition. Systemic voices and illustrative images of people are representative tools, not depictions of specific individuals. We dive deep into peer-reviewed research, pre-prints, and major scientific works—then bring them to life through the stories of the researchers themselves. Complex ideas become clear. Obscure discoveries become conversation starters. And you walk away understanding not just what scientists discovered, but why it matters and how they got there. Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter. Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas. Spoken word, short and sweet, with rhythm and a catchy beat. http://tinyurl.com/stonefolksongs