MIT's Sherry Turkle Warns AI Chatbots Erode Human Empathy in New Book 'Artificial Intimacy'

MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle argues in her latest book that heavy reliance on AI chatbots is degrading our capacity for genuine human connection, creating a generation at risk of losing fundamental interpersonal skills. Published September 29, 2026, *Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines* marks the culmination of Turkle's three decades of research on how humans bond with computational systems designed to simulate emotional responsiveness.