Artificial intelligence was initially imagined as a tool for efficiency. It could search, calculate, and write faster than humans, automating the tedious parts of work and life. But people are increasingly turning to AI for something more intimate: a shoulder to lean on.
For Mark Thornton, a psychologist at Dartmouth College and a 2025 recipient of the APS Janet Taylor Spence Award, the answer has less to do with artificial intelligence than collective human intelligence.
In a paper in Perspectives on Psychological Science, Thornton argues that although AI may sometimes appear better at expressing empathy than humans, its performance may simply reflect the best parts of us.
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