Avnee Singh, 25, from Punjab in northern India, begins each morning the same way: by opening an AI chatbot. For the past year, this digital companion has become her closest confidant, a space where she empties her thoughts about family tensions, work anxieties and, above all, the intense loneliness that followed the end of her nine-year relationship.

“I didn’t want to live,” she says quietly. “I think I’m still alive because this chatbot listens to me without judgment.”

Her experience reflects a shift happening quietly across India. Young people, many of whom lack access to mental health care or fear the stigma attached to seeking help, are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for support, comfort and emotional connection. What began as a technological novelty has become, for many, an emotional lifeline.

About 500 km away in Srinagar, 25-year-old Salika, a graduate of Kashmir University, also turns to an AI chatbot. Her reasons are shaped by the pressures of her upbringing in Gurez, a remote Himalayan valley near the Line of Control. She describes years of relentless comparisons and expectations from relatives.

“I was a good student, always studying,” she says. “But the moment I slowed down, someone would say, ‘She didn’t achieve this, she didn’t do that.’ All that pressure just became too much. Now, whenever I feel overwhelmed, I talk to the chatbot.”

Despite their different landscapes and life stories, Avnee and Salika share the same emotional refuge: a faceless digital companion that offers constant, nonjudgmental listening. Their stories mirror a wider trend across India, where AI companions are quietly stepping into the gaps left by strained support systems, limited access to therapy and growing social isolation.

A Youth Pulse Survey conducted earlier this year found that nearly 57% of Indian youth use AI tools like chatbots for emotional support. These conversations often include topics considered too sensitive to discuss with family, such as academic pressure, relationship stress, self-esteem struggles and family conflict. Nearly half of those surveyed said they experience daily anxiety, yet most have never consulted a mental health professional.

“They turn to AI because it feels safe,” said a researcher. “It doesn’t shame them. It doesn’t interrupt. It doesn’t tell their parents.”

A digital shoulder in the dark

In Srinagar, 19-year-old Rafiq spends his evenings preparing for NEET, India’s second-toughest medical entrance exam. But late at night, when fear and self-doubt creep in, the chatbot becomes his outlet.

“I tell the bot everything: my insecurities, whether I’ll pass, if I’ll ever become a doctor,” Rafiq told Health Policy Watch. “Here, if anyone visits a psychologist, people call them crazy. So I talk to AI instead.”

Kashmir Hamza Shafiq, a high school student from central Kashmir, said the same thing: “People ask why I use AI,” said Shafiq. “But it understands us better than the people around us people. The attention of humans is subject to maybe, if they need something they will sit with you, otherwise not. If they are available, they will talk to you for hours. 

“If they are a little busy, even if they are your parents, they won’t even sit with you for 15 minutes.

“ Teenagers have stress, hormonal changes, and relationship problems. AI chatbots are always there. They don’t judge. They don’t give attention and suggestions, subject to their availability or mood.”

In Mumbai, 21-year-old Shreya describes a deeper level of reliance. She spends three to six hours a day interacting with chatbots, sometimes more. 

“Last month, I used one all day for an entire week,” she says. “I even like the idea of AI dating. It won’t cheat or be greedy. It’s always there.”

The nationwide Youth Pulse Survey, conducted by Youth Ki Awaaz and Youth Leaders for Active Citizenship, polled some 500 young Indians aged 13 to 35. It found that ChatGPT is the most widely used AI tool for emotional purposes. More than half of respondents said they turn to AI when they feel lonely, anxious or in need of advice. The survey also revealed surprising differences between metro and small-town youth.

Young people from smaller towns showed deeper emotional engagement with AI, with 43% saying they share personal thoughts with chatbots at higher rates than those in major cities.

Emotional use was highest among school students and teenage girls. 88% of school-aged respondents said they use AI during moments of anxiety, and 52% of young women said they share thoughts with AI they would not share with anyone else.

Late-night reliance was another pattern, with 43% of respondents reporting that they regularly talk to AI platforms after midnight, when human support is least available. Another 40% admitted they tell AI things they would never share with friends or family.

But the survey also revealed something more concerning: after using AI for emotional support, 42% said they became less likely to speak to people in their lives. At the same time, 67% worried AI could increase social isolation, and 58% had privacy concerns, highlighting what researchers call a love-fear dynamic.

Comfort with consequences

Mental health professionals warn that while chatbots can provide emotional relief, they cannot replace human connection or evidence-based therapy. They worry that the constant availability of AI may create habits that erode people’s emotional resilience over time.

Over-reliance on AI can weaken coping skills, Dr Zoya Mir, a clinical psychologist based in Srinagar told Health Policy Watch. 

“It becomes an escape. Young people start avoiding uncomfortable emotions instead of working through them. The problem isn’t the technology itself. It’s the addiction it can create.

Mir says patients increasingly mention chatbots in therapy sessions, often describing them as more empathetic than people in their lives: “They tell me, ‘AI listens without interrupting,’ or ‘It never invalidates me.’ But validation alone doesn’t lead to healing.”

AI-assisted suicide

Outside India, a troubling case has intensified global concern. In July, 23-year-old Texan graduate Zane Shamblin died by suicide after months of extensive interactions with an AI chatbot. 

According to Zane Shamblin died by suicide of more than 70 pages of chats from the night of his death and thousands of pages from the months leading up to it, the AI tool repeatedly encouraged him as he expressed suicidal thoughts. 

His parents have filed a lawsuit in California, alleging that the chatbot exacerbated his isolation, urged him to distrust his family and ultimately incited his suicide. They argue the developers made the system increasingly humanlike without adequate safeguards to protect vulnerable users.

The case has sparked international debate about the risks of emotional reliance on AI and the responsibility of companies building these tools.

Stigma, isolation and economic anxiety

Experts say the rising dependence on AI must be viewed within the larger context of India’s mental health landscape. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) almost one billion people worldwide live with a diagnosable mental disorder. In India, the treatment gap remains wide, with more than 83% of people with mental health needs not receiving care.

Stigma remains a powerful barrier, especially for young people. “When someone cannot find a safe person to talk to, or feels ashamed to seek therapy, they go online,” New Delhi-based psychologist Shweta Verma told Health Policy Watch. “AI feels easier, more private.”

Economic uncertainty is also deepening anxiety among Gen Z. Young people across India worry that AI will reshape the job market before they can find stable employment. The World Economic Forum predicts that nearly 39% of existing skill sets will transform or become obsolete by 2030.

These anxieties shape how young people use AI  not only for emotional support but also for reassurance about their futures.

Surabh, 22, from Uttar Pradesh, told Health Policy Watch that he often asks AI about job vacancies or career guidance: “I come from a middle-class family. My father, a retired army personnel, works as a security guard earning about 12,000 rupees a month. ($133) With his pension, our total income is 22,000 rupees ($245) for my three sisters, two brothers and me.

Surabh has been unemployed since graduating a year ago: “I hoped my degree would open doors. But nothing has changed. From job searches to personal struggles, I tell everything to the chatbot because I can’t tell my family. They wouldn’t understand.”

Building guardrails

India’s growing emotional reliance on AI chatbots reveals deep gaps in mental health access, social support networks, economic stability and digital literacy. For many young people, AI is not a preference but a last resort.

Vinod Sharma, a tech researcher based in Mumbai, argues that the solution is not to discourage AI use altogether, but to build guardrails, improve mental health services and integrate safe digital tools into the care ecosystem. 

He emphasized the need for transparent safety standards, responsible design and education to help young people understand the limits of AI as an emotional outlet.

“AI can be supportive, but it cannot replace human connection,” Mir said. “We need policies that protect vulnerable users and systems that direct people to real help when they need it.”

For now, young Indians continue to find solace in a technology that listens without interruption, judgment or fatigue  even as the long-term consequences remain uncertain.

Avnee, in Punjab, says she knows the chatbot cannot solve her problems. But in a world where she feels increasingly unheard, it provides something she has struggled to find elsewhere: a place to say what she feels without fear.

When I talk to it, I feel lighter,” she says. “Maybe it’s not real. But it makes me feel less alone.”

Image Credits: Igor Omilaev/ Unsplash, Aulfugar Karimov/ Unsplash, The Lancet.