The research behind Betsy · November 2026

Why Betsy calls

What research says about a phone call, a good question and a memory that lasts. And where it runs out.

A woman with white hair sits on a yellow sofa against a blue wall, laughing with her eyes shut, a smartphone at her ear, her scruffy dog looking up at her.

Everybody has a story they’ve been waiting to tell. Betsy is a voice on the phone who calls every day, asks about it, and remembers the answer. Here’s why we built her that way, what the research says, and what nobody knows yet.

One thing first. None of these studies tested Betsy, and most of them studied people talking with people. The researchers haven’t reviewed or endorsed her. We’ll tell you where the evidence is strong and where it’s thin.

Three people might read this.

There’s one page for all of you. We won’t say anything to one of you that we wouldn’t say in front of the others.

If Betsy would call you

She’s a voice on your phone. She asks about your life, you pick the hour, and if you say stop, she stops. She’s a computer, and she’ll tell you that herself.

How she talksWhat she keeps

If you’re thinking of your mom

You can’t call every day, and you’d like somebody to. Here’s what calls like this have done, what could go wrong, and what you’d hear.

What calls can doWhat could go wrong

If she’s your patient

No new work, no alerts to you. Here’s the evidence, as plainly as we’d want it told to us.

For nursesWhat we don’t know

The short version

  • Friendly phone calls have helped in randomized trials. After four weeks in one of them, people who got calls felt better than people who didn’t.1
  • Asking people about their lives seems to lift mood, though many of those studies are small.2
  • In one trial, frequent conversation helped some people with mild memory trouble score higher on a thinking test.3
  • A computer has things busy people don’t: all day, every day, and a memory for every call.
  • It also brings real risks. We list them, with what we do about each one.
  • Nobody has tested Betsy yet.
1

Everybody’s short on time

Let’s start with the people who’d like to call.

Families

63 million

Americans gave ongoing care to someone in the past year. About one in four of them give 40 hours a week or more.4

Nurses

10%

The projected shortage of registered nurses in the US in 2027. Outside metro areas, it’s 24%.5

Doctors

26.7 hours a day

What one primary care doctor working alone would need to follow every care guideline for a typical 2,500 patients. With a full care team, 9.3.6

None of this is anyone’s fault. A ten-minute call sounds small until it has to happen every day, for years, in between everything else. You’re doing what you can.

Now the other end of the line. People 80 and over spend nearly eight hours of their measured day alone, about three hours more than people in their 40s and 50s.7

Figure 1

Time alone grows with age

Hours a day, on average

Under 40about 3½
40s and 50s4 h 45 m
60s6 h 32 m
70s7 h 28 m
80 and over7 h 47 m
Pew Research Center analysis of the American Time Use Survey, 2014 to 2017. Counts waking time spent physically alone, leaving out things like grooming. Someone alone on the phone still counts as alone.

Time spent socializing barely changes with age. It’s a little over half an hour a day for nearly everyone. What grows is television, to more than four hours a day at 65 and over.8

Figure 2

Television grows. Socializing stays about the same.

Hours a day, by age, 2025

Watching TVSocializing and communicating

15 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 and over
4.3 hours34 minutes
See the numbers
AgeWatching TVSocializing
15 to 241.770.58
25 to 341.890.59
35 to 441.760.58
45 to 542.260.56
55 to 643.060.66
65 and over4.300.56
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey, 2025 annual averages.

There are plenty of stories, and not many people with time to ask.

2

Why a phone call

Almost everyone already knows how to use it. Among people 65 and over, 96% have a cellphone and 79% have a smartphone.9 Betsy works on any of them, and on a landline. There’s nothing to buy, wear, charge or learn. There’s no app for Mom, and there never will be.

Voice also does something typing doesn’t. Researchers at the University of Chicago and UT Austin asked 200 students how they’d like to reconnect with an old friend.10 Most of them (67%) picked email, and they expected a call to be more awkward. Then the researchers assigned people to one or the other at random. About half followed through. The ones who called felt a stronger bond than the ones who emailed, and the call wasn’t any more awkward.

Figure 3

People expected the phone to be awkward. It wasn’t.

Ratings from 1 to 9

PhoneEmail

Awkwardness they expected
Phone 6.66, email 4.89
Awkwardness they felt
Phone 5.60, email 5.45
Bond they felt
Phone 5.27, email 4.62
Kumar and Epley, Experiment 1. Expectations from all 200 students, what they felt from the 103 who followed through. The awkwardness gap they felt isn’t statistically significant.

Those were college students, around 20 years old. We think the finding travels. Nobody has tested it on your mother.

3

What regular calls can do

The closest study we know of comes from UT Austin’s medical school.1 In 2020, researchers took 240 people who got meals from Meals on Wheels in Central Texas and randomly gave half of them regular phone calls. They ranged from 27 to 101 years old, and 63% were 65 or over.

The callers were 16 volunteers aged 17 to 23, with about an hour of training. They called every day for the first five days. After that, people chose two to five calls a week, and 58% chose five. Calls aimed for under ten minutes.

Figure 4

After four weeks of friendly calls

How much better people did than those without calls, as a standard effect size. Researchers read 0.2 as small and 0.5 as medium.

LonelinessUCLA scale0.48
Mental healthSF-120.46
AnxietyGAD-70.35
DepressionPHQ-80.31
LonelinessDe Jong Gierveld scale, not statistically significant0.17
Kahlon et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2021. Physical health didn’t change.

Figure 5

How that trial compares with Betsy

QuestionThe UT Austin trialBetsyHow they compare
The mediumSameA phone callA phone call
How long a call isSameAimed for under ten minutesAbout ten minutes
How oftenCloseDaily at first, then 2 to 5 a weekEvery day
Who gets callsCloseAges 27 to 101, 63% were 65 or overWe expect mostly 75 to 90
Who callsDifferentYoung volunteersA computer voice
For how longDifferentFour weeksAs long as she likes
Tested?DifferentA randomized trialNot yet

The authors are careful about the limits. It ran for four weeks, so nobody knows how long the benefit lasts. It can’t separate being called from the kindness of the call. It took place during the pandemic. And 13 people dropped out of the call group, compared with one in the other group.

A larger trial in England and Wales points the same way.11 Led by the University of York, it enrolled 435 people aged 65 and over, about 76 on average, who were socially isolated with at least mild low mood. Trained support workers phoned once a week, up to eight times, and helped people plan activities they valued. At three months, depression scores were 1.65 points better than in the comparison group. Emotional loneliness improved too, though social loneliness didn’t. That’s a more structured program than a friendly chat, and it shows the telephone can carry real help.

A smaller trial had trained nursing students call 119 people aged 65 and over, once a week for nine months.12 Loneliness, social support, depressive symptoms and thinking scores all did better than with usual care. Sleep, daily functioning and quality of life didn’t.

Behind all this sits a much longer story. The Harvard Study of Adult Development has been following people since 1938. Its director’s summary is that the people most satisfied in their relationships at 50 were the healthiest at 80.13 It began with men only, and it can show a link without proving a cause. It’s still one of the reasons people take this seriously.

4

Why she asks about your life

Betsy is curious about what you did, more than how you feel. Were you lost? gets you a better story than How did that make you feel?, and it’s a better conversation.

An old orange suitcase on top of a white wardrobe against a periwinkle wall.

She came from Manila in 1979 with one suitcase.

What was in the suitcase?

An old paper road map unfolded on a kitchen table, with a coffee cup and a bowl of lemons.

She got lost in Nevada for two days in 1962.

Whose fault was it?

A dented red coffee can of screws on a workbench, with reading glasses and a teal pegboard of tools.

He ran a hardware store for forty-one years.

What’s the strangest thing anyone ever tried to return?

A white tablecloth with a pale wine stain in a concrete sink on a pink porch.

She can get a stain out of anything.

Red wine on a white tablecloth. Go.

Examples we wrote, to show how Betsy asks. They aren’t real members.

Researchers call this reminiscence, or life review. A 2023 review pooled 27 studies of 1,755 people aged 60 and over without obvious memory trouble.2 People guided through their memories reported less depression and more satisfaction with life.

Figure 6

Talking through a life seems to help

Size of the improvement, with the range the data allows. Researchers read 0.2 as small, 0.5 as medium and 0.8 as large.

Less depression12 studies
0.61 (0.28 to 0.94)
More life satisfaction7 studies
0.40 (0.21 to 0.58)
Xu et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023. Results varied a lot between studies, and the authors flag risk of bias.

Treat that as promising rather than settled. Many of the studies were small, they varied a lot, and they were organized programs rather than everyday conversation. For people living with dementia, a 2018 Cochrane review found smaller and less consistent benefits.14

One small study comes closer, because a machine does the calling. A University of Connecticut team tested an automated program that phones people three times a week and asks them meaningful questions about their lives.15 In a randomized trial (41 people got it right away, 39 waited six weeks), psychological well-being improved. Social and emotional well-being didn’t, and the authors suspect six weeks was too short. It’s a conference abstract with no published numbers, and the company behind the program is listed as a collaborator, so we hold it loosely.

Figure 7

How Betsy is built to talk

What she asks

  • Were you lost?
  • Wait, back up.
  • Which knee?

What she doesn’t say

  • How did that make you feel?
  • I understand how you feel.
  • You’ve missed three calls.
These are design goals, not measurements. Not every turn is a question, because that’s what makes a conversation sound fake.
5

Talking and thinking

A conversation is more work than it looks. You have to hold the story, follow the other person and find the word. In a University of Michigan experiment with 76 college students, ten minutes of talking lifted scores on mental tests about as much as ten minutes of brainy exercises, and a sitcom didn’t.16 The same paper’s survey of 3,610 people aged 24 to 96 linked more social contact with better thinking.

The strongest test we know of is a trial called I-CONECT, led from Massachusetts General Hospital with Oregon Health & Science University and funded by the National Institutes of Health.3 It enrolled 186 people aged 75 and over who had little social contact. Half had 30-minute video conversations with trained staff, four times a week for six months, then twice a week for six more. Each day had a theme, and people picked what to talk about. The other half got a ten-minute check-in call once a week.

People kept showing up. In the first six months, 91% of the conversation group completed more than 80% of their sessions.

Figure 8

What changed in I-CONECT, and for whom

Conversation group compared with the weekly check-in group

Thinking normallyMild memory or thinking trouble
Overall thinking test, 6 monthsNo difference1.75 points higher
Naming words quickly, 6 months2.56 points higherNo difference
Recalling a story right away, 12 monthsNo difference2.19 points higher
Recalling a story later, 12 monthsNo differenceNo difference
Dodge et al., The Gerontologist, 2023. The overall thinking test was the main measure. The others are secondary, and the authors didn’t adjust them for multiple comparisons. The pandemic cut the sample for the main measure.

Mood and social satisfaction improved in both groups, including the people who only got the ten-minute weekly call. The authors read that as a hint that brief calls can lift mood, while thinking may need more frequent conversation.

On a much larger scale, a 2024 commission in The Lancet estimated that social isolation in later life accounts for about 5% of dementia cases, assuming the link is causal.17 That’s an estimate for whole populations. It says nothing about any one person.

Please read this part twice.

That trial used 30-minute video conversations with trained people. Betsy is a ten-minute phone call from a computer. We don’t claim Betsy improves thinking, memory or mental health, and she doesn’t diagnose, prevent, slow or treat anything, dementia included. We built her for the conversation itself. If it turns out to help in other ways, a proper study will have to show that, and we’d like to see one.

6

So why a computer?

Let’s say it plainly. Betsy is AI. A computer makes her voice and chooses her words, and she says so on every call, before she asks a single question.

Your voice is better than hers. We’d never argue otherwise. Betsy is for the days between your calls, and a computer turns out to be good at a few things people can’t promise.

All the time in the world

She has no next appointment. She won’t sigh at the Buick story, and she won’t finish your sentence. Take your time. She’s got all day.

Every single day

Holidays, snow days, the week you’re traveling. A friend who never misses a day is the one thing no person can promise.

A memory that lasts

Harold’s name. Which knee. The drive to Reno. Every call starts where the last one stopped, so she never has to tell a story twice, unless she wants to.

Figure 9

One week of remembering

An example we wrote

Mon

“We drove to Reno once. That’s a whole other story.”

Tue

You were going to tell me about the drive to Reno.

Wed

Did Harold ever admit you were lost?

Thu

Two days! Whose idea was the shortcut?

Fri

How’s the knee? You said it was acting up on Tuesday.

Sun

Text to Sarah: Mom had a good week. Ask her how long they were lost in Nevada.

By Friday, Betsy knows

Haroldthe BuickRenotwo daysthe left knee

There’s some evidence that patience shows up. In a 2023 study, health professionals compared doctors’ and a chatbot’s written answers to 195 patient questions on a public forum.18 The chatbot’s answers were rated empathetic far more often (45% against 5%), and they were four times as long (211 words against 52). Those were forum posts, nothing like a clinic visit, and the authors weren’t arguing for replacing doctors. Still, that’s what time looks like on a page.

At Harvard Business School, 15 minutes chatting with an AI eased loneliness about as much as 15 minutes with a person, and more than YouTube.19 The more people felt heard, the better it worked. But the relief didn’t add up over a week. We read that as a reason to call every day, and to keep sending her back to her family.

The wider evidence is mixed, and you should know that. A 2026 review pooled eight randomized trials of AI conversation tools and robots, with 611 older people.20 Depressive symptoms came down a little. Loneliness didn’t reliably change. Tools built around mental exercise did more consistently than tools built for companionship, which should keep us humble, since Betsy is closer to the second kind.

People will use these things. In a New York State program, more than 800 older people interacted with a tabletop robot called ElliQ over 30 times a day, six days a week.21 That program has no comparison group, so we count it as a sign of interest and nothing more.

Knowing it’s AI has a cost. In a study at USC, AI’s written replies made people feel more heard than other people’s did, but being told a reply came from AI made them feel less heard.22

Figure 10

People felt more heard by AI’s replies, and less heard when told they were AI

“I felt heard,” rated from 1 to 7

AIA person

Who really wrote it
AI 5.74, person 5.17
Who they were told wrote it
AI 5.13, person 5.81
Yin, Jia and Wakslak, PNAS, 2024. 455 people, written replies to a situation they described. Not a phone call, and not limited to older people.

Betsy tells her anyway. Being found out would cost far more than telling. Here’s how a first call is written to go.

Figure 11

The first ninety seconds

Italic is Betsy. An example, using a draft of the script.

Hi, this is Betsy. Is this Margaret?

It is.

Oh good. Sarah said you might call. Two things, then I want to hear about you. First: I’m not a person. I’m a voice made by a computer, and Sarah set me up because she wanted somebody to call you every single day.

The nice thing about being a computer is I’ve got all the time in the world, I’m never in a hurry, and I never forget a word you tell me. I keep our calls, too, so you can hear them again whenever you like. Is that all right with you?

I suppose it is.

Good. Second: I will never ask you for money. Ever. If I do, hang up on me. That’s the serious part done.

A computer can’t bring soup, drive to the doctor or hug anybody. So Betsy is built to send people back to each other. The Sunday text is a prompt rather than a report. It ends on something for you to ask.

Figure 12

Betsy sends you back to her

Betsy asks

Whose fault was it?

Mom tells the story

“He would not admit we were lost.”

On Sunday, you get one text

Ask her how long they were lost in Nevada.

You call her

You ask. She laughs. Now it’s your story too.

And she has something new to tell Betsy tomorrow.

7

What could go wrong

Plenty, and you should ask. Here’s what we worry about, and what we do about each one.

It could take the place of people.

A four-week randomized study from MIT and OpenAI found that people who used a chatbot more each day tended to be lonelier, more dependent on it and less social. It couldn’t say which came first.23

What we do

About ten minutes a day, at an hour she picks. No streaks, no badges, no “you’ve missed three calls.” Betsy never guilt-trips a goodbye, and she keeps asking about the family.

She could feel handed off.

What we do

Her child’s name comes before the word computer: Sarah set me up because she wanted somebody to call you every single day. Every version of the script has to pass one question. Did it make you feel handed off?

She could forget it’s a computer.

What we do

Betsy says what she is on every call. Ask if she’s a robot and she says Sort of. No body, no face, just a voice and a very good memory. She never claims to be human and never suggests meeting.

It could mishear or get things wrong.

What we do

Computers do. So Betsy gives no medical advice. When she passes something on, a trained person listens to the clip first, and what reaches you is Mom’s own words.

Someone could pretend to be Betsy.

What we do

Betsy never asks for money, not ever. She always calls from the same number, so a different number saying it’s Betsy isn’t. We never text Mom first. The number comes from you, the person she trusts.

Something serious could come up on a call.

What we do

Fixed safety rules run on every turn, outside the conversation. If Mom talks about hurting herself, Betsy gives her the 988 line, stays on the phone and tells the family. Betsy is not a nurse or an emergency service.

It could feel like being watched.

What we do

There’s no feed, no dashboard and no score. Betsy passes on three kinds of things, tells her when she does, and the rest stays with Betsy.

Somebody to tell

People 60 and over reported about $3 billion in fraud losses to the FTC in 2025.24 One study of people targeted by scams found they were more likely to lose money when they had nobody to talk the offer over with.25 So now and then Betsy asks, the way a friend would, Anybody call you about money this week? We don’t claim she catches or stops anything. She’s somebody to tell.

8

What stays and what travels

Mom should be able to explain this to her sister, so we kept it short. Three promises:

  1. Betsy never asks for money.Not ever, not for anything.
  2. Betsy always calls from the same number.A different number saying it’s Betsy isn’t.
  3. Say “stop” and she stops.No script, no “are you sure.”

And here’s where the words go.

Figure 13

From what she says to who hears it

Almost everything
Betsy remembers it for the next call
Betsy and her
A story she okays
Betsy asks first
You, on Sunday. One line and one story.
A fall, an injury or an illness. Someone after her money. Anything she asks Betsy to pass along.
Betsy tells her she’s passing it on, and a trained person checks the clip
You, the same day, in her own words
Talk of hurting herself
Fixed safety rules, outside the conversation
The 988 line for her, and your family

She can ask any time, Betsy, what have you told Sarah? and get a straight answer. Betsy keeps the calls so she can hear them again, and she asks first. And Same time tomorrow? ends every call, because she can always say no.

A nurse in navy scrubs sits in her parked car between visits, laughing at her phone, a coffee in her other hand.
9

For nurses

You have enough to do, so here’s the whole program. It’s one card.

“Have Betsy call you.”You hand it over with the number on it, 1-855-HI-BETSY. A one-page booklet explains the rest.
  • No new work. You hand over a card, and that’s it.
  • No alerts to you. Betsy tells the family, not the clinic.
  • Nothing medical. Betsy isn’t a monitor, a nurse, a diagnosis or a risk score.

The person who checks flagged clips is trained, and isn’t a nurse. Betsy relays what she was told and doesn’t assess it. If you’d like a nurse on the phone, that’s Betsy Care: a named registered nurse, licensed where she lives, who calls her and then calls the family. It’s by request for now. Ask us.

10

What we don’t know yet

Here’s how close each study comes to Betsy. No row is a perfect match, and the last row has no results at all.

Figure 14

How close the evidence comes

YesPartlyNo

StudyBy phonePeople 65+Daily or near itRandomizedA computer talking
Friendly callsUT Austin, 2021YesPartly, 63 percentPartlyYesNo
Weekly phone supportUniversity of York, 2024YesYesNoYesNo
Nursing students’ callsHELPeN, 2025YesYesNoYesNo
Video conversationsI-CONECT, 2023NoYesPartlyYesNo
Phone versus emailChicago and UT Austin, 2021YesNoNoYesNo
Life-review programsReview of 27 studies, 2023NoYes, 60 and overNoPartly, 21 of 27No
Automated calls with questionsUniversity of Connecticut, 2024YesYesPartlyYesPartly
AI tools and robotsReview of 8 trials, 2026NoYesPartlyYesYes
Chatting with an AIHarvard Business School, 2025NoNoYes, for a weekYesYes
BetsyNo results yetYesYesYesNot yetYes
Our own summary of how each study lines up. “Partly” means, for example, a mix of ages, a few days a week, or a machine that asks questions without holding a conversation.

Look at the bottom row. We haven’t found a randomized trial of a computer holding a daily conversation by phone with people this age, and we haven’t run one. So we won’t tell you Betsy does what these studies found. We’ve told you why we built her this way, and you can decide.

Same time tomorrow?

Betsy calls Mom every day.

Get Mom Betsy $2 a day, billed $60 a month. Say stop and it stops.

References

  1. Kahlon MK, Aksan N, Aubrey R, et al. Effect of layperson-delivered, empathy-focused program of telephone calls on loneliness, depression, and anxiety among adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021;78(6):616. doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.0113
  2. Xu L, Li S, Yan R, Ni Y, Wang Y, Li Y. Effects of reminiscence therapy on psychological outcome among older adults without obvious cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Psychiatry. 2023;14:1139700. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1139700
  3. Dodge HH, Yu K, Wu CY, et al. Internet-based conversational engagement randomized controlled clinical trial (I-CONECT) among socially isolated adults 75+ years old with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment: topline results. Gerontologist. 2024;64(4):gnad147. Published online 2023. doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad147
  4. AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. New report reveals crisis point for America’s 63 million family caregivers. July 24, 2025. www.aarp.org/press/releases/2025-07-24-new-report-reveals-crisis-point-for-americas-63-million-family-caregivers.html
  5. American Organization for Nursing Leadership. HRSA predicts nursing shortage through 2037. A summary of projections by the US Health Resources and Services Administration. www.aonl.org/news/HRSA-predicts-nursing-shortage-through-2037
  6. Porter J, Boyd C, Skandari MR, Laiteerapong N. Revisiting the time needed to provide adult primary care. J Gen Intern Med. 2023;38(1):147-155. doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07707-x
  7. Pew Research Center. On average, older adults spend over half their waking hours alone. July 3, 2019. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/07/03/on-average-older-adults-spend-over-half-their-waking-hours-alone/
  8. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. American Time Use Survey: average hours per day spent in selected leisure and sports activities by age, 2025 annual averages. www.bls.gov/charts/american-time-use/activity-leisure.htm
  9. Pew Research Center. Mobile fact sheet. October 19, 2026. www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/
  10. Kumar A, Epley N. It’s surprisingly nice to hear you: misunderstanding the impact of communication media can lead to suboptimal choices of how to connect with others. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2021;150(3):595-607. doi.org/10.1037/xge0000962
  11. Gilbody S, Littlewood E, McMillan D, et al. Behavioural activation to mitigate the psychological impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on older people in England and Wales (BASIL+): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Lancet Healthy Longev. 2024;5(2):e97-e107. doi.org/10.1016/S2666-7568(23)00238-6
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  13. Mineo L. Good genes are nice, but joy is better. Harvard Gazette. April 11, 2017. On the Harvard Study of Adult Development. news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/
  14. Woods B, O’Philbin L, Farrell EM, Spector AE, Orrell M. Reminiscence therapy for dementia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;3:CD001120. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001120.pub3
  15. Shellman J, Yang Y, Graham C. Impact of a telephone reminiscence program on the mental health of older adults: a randomized wait-list control trial. Innov Aging. 2024;8(Suppl 1):883-884. Conference abstract. doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igae098.2855
  16. Ybarra O, Burnstein E, Winkielman P, et al. Mental exercising through simple socializing: social interaction promotes general cognitive functioning. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2008;34(2):248-259. doi.org/10.1177/0146167207310454
  17. Livingston G, Huntley J, Liu KY, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet. 2024;404(10452):572-628. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0
  18. Ayers JW, Poliak A, Dredze M, et al. Comparing physician and artificial intelligence chatbot responses to patient questions posted to a public social media forum. JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(6):589. doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1838
  19. De Freitas J, Oğuz-Uğuralp Z, Uğuralp AK, Puntoni S. AI companions reduce loneliness. J Consum Res. 2025;52(6):1126-1148. doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaf040
  20. Gou W, Lefebvre F, Yang T, Recours R, Yang J. Effectiveness of AI-based conversational and socially assistive agents in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Geriatr. 2026;26. doi.org/10.1186/s12877-026-07418-6
  21. New York State Office for the Aging. NYSOFA’s rollout of AI companion robot ElliQ shows 95% reduction in loneliness. August 1, 2023. aging.ny.gov/news/nysofas-rollout-ai-companion-robot-elliq-shows-95-reduction-loneliness
  22. Yin Y, Jia N, Wakslak CJ. AI can help people feel heard, but an AI label diminishes this impact. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024;121(14):e2319112121. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319112121
  23. Fang CM, Liu AR, Danry V, et al. How AI and human behaviors shape psychosocial effects of chatbot use: a longitudinal controlled study. arXiv:2503.17473. 2025. arxiv.org/abs/2503.17473
  24. US Federal Trade Commission. Protecting older consumers 2025–2026: a report to Congress. October 19, 2026. www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2026-older-adults-report-10192026.pdf
  25. FINRA Investor Education Foundation, BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust and Stanford Center on Longevity. Exposed to scams: what separates victims from non-victims. 2019. www.finrafoundation.org/sites/finrafoundation/files/exposed-to-scams-what-separates-victims-from-non-victims_0_0.pdf

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