Early psychological impacts of AI

AI burst into the scene meteorically. From a futuristic theoretical fantasy or clumsy early renditions to an undeniable force spanning every facet of life. We cannot yet know how this will affect people, our world or our psychology. However, this article intends to document some of the early psychological impacts.

Fear

The array of reactions discussed in this article, which is not intended to be a complete list of societies reactions, could be subsumed under the umbrella of fears.

Of takeover

Science fiction seemingly foreshadows our blinded desire to lunge forward into our own destruction. As if we are fated to create our own demise. Certainly we can imagine being of little utility in the eyes of what potential AI might carry in the future - if it becomes a truly conscious entity, will it be indifferent to humans or consider us a nuisance? Of course, there is the possibility that humans and AI can coexists, and for many, the fears of AI takeover seem to have the flavor of delusion, but also throwing caution to the wind seems quite naive.

Environmental

Reports indicate that AI burns through swaths of energy, be it natural or fossil fuels, this can be immensely concerning in the age of an already tipping environmental scale toward instability and global warming. However, we have also seen leaps forward in energy technology in part in direct response to AI, both the energy demands but also likely utilizing AI as an ally to develop new technologies. What will move faster: AI's consumption of energy further undoing a tenuous homeostasis, or new sustainable energy that could change the fate of Earth and possibly humanity?

Jobs

AI is used in nearly every job space. As a business owner, it is unavoidable to maintain my company's website - the playing field has change in which it is essential to get feedback from AI. Most professional use AI to enhance (or, cough cough, do) their work. Professors are dismayed by student's reliance on AI, and further deterioration of writing ability. I recall teachers saying "you won't always have a calculator," as I walked into the exam without mine ("ha, gotcha on that one!"). Only years later, everyone has a computer in their pocket. Now, these computers have generative AI that can not only do your math homework, but create just about anything you need for school or work with the risk of hallucinations (wrong or fact information in the AI output). In my field, people are leaning on AI to be their "armchair" therapist, and often with some negative consequences, but we would be shortsighted not to assume those who see the dollar as the bottom line aren't interested in how to reduce healthcare costs with AI or secure healthcare dollars for themselves with AI products at the cost of higher-quality, human care. It's hard to imagine AI taking over the workplace to a degree that humans are out of house and home, but there could be much upset during transitions over the following years. I think about countries like Kuwait with significant oil reserves - many people live comfortably due to the value of the land. Could AI simplify our lives and jobs rather than take them away?

Duped

Almost every social media post contains at least one comment casting doubt on the post's legitimacy versus the potential that it is an AI-generated rouse. Not only does this highlight the doubt that humans are experiencing in the media we are addicted to, but also a reflexive fear of being duped. It would be a threat to be tricked, not just once, but repeatedly. This is a threat when we can't trust the information fed to us. It could lead to problematic or dangerous decisions (in health, politics or otherwise). This inability to trust stimuli around us vaguely elicits thoughts about psychosis. What effect will it have on our psychology when we chronically cannot trust what we see? Or maybe future generations will take this for granted - does the reality of the stimuli matter? Will AI generated content be "real" in the eyes of those who grow up with it? Remember, those who attended the first even movie ran from the train headed toward the screen. It may be like a second language for currently living humans, but as familiar as a primary language for future generations.

Academic & Scientific Reference List

1. "Fear of Takeover" & Existential Threat

The article poses existential questions regarding human utility, AI consciousness, and our "blinded desire to lunge forward into our own destruction" (p. 2).

• Castelo, N., Bos, M. W., & Lehmann, D. R. (2019). Task characteristics as predictors of mind attribution to nonhuman agents. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 36(3), 364–379.

• Jackson, J. C., Castelo, N., & Gray, K. (2024). The emotional impact of generative AI: Negative emotions and human identity threat. Behaviour & Information Technology, 1–15. doi.org. [1]

• Liang, Y., & Lee, S. A. (2021). Fear of autonomous robots and artificial intelligence (FARAI): Development and validation of a psychological scale. IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems, 14(4), 1435–1446.

2. "Jobs", Workplace Transition, and AI Replacement Anxiety

The author highlights professionals leaning on AI to enhance or complete work, the risk of corporate entities sidelining human care for "the dollar as the bottom line," and the psychological friction of workplace transitions (p. 3).

• Brougham, D., & Haar, J. (2018). Smart technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and algorithms (STARA): Employees’ perceptions of our future workplace. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(2), 239–257.

• McNamara, S., & Vaughan, J. V. (2025). Artificial Intelligence Replacement Dysfunction (AIRD): A conceptual framework for understanding workforce disruption in clinical therapy. Cureus Journal of Medical Science. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12459875/. [1, 2]

• Rhee, J., & Jin, Y. (2021). Artificial intelligence anxiety, burnout, and quiet quitting: Assessing indirect effect mechanisms in automated environments. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, Article 11939379. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11939379/. [1]

3. Educational Impacts: Writing Deterioration and Cognitive Overreliance

The article reflects on professors dismayed by students' reliance on AI and the resulting deterioration of baseline human skills (p. 3).

• Sullivan, M., Kelly, A., & Strode, P. (2025). Effects of generative artificial intelligence on cognitive effort, authorship, and writing performance in higher education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 42(2), 112–126. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12255134/. [1]

• Zammit, J., & Borg, M. (2024). The psychology of generative AI in higher education: Cognitive debt, dependency, and the erosion of critical thinking skills. Qeios. doi.org. [1]

4. "Armchair Therapy" vs. Human Healthcare Costs

Dr. Weingarden references a highly specific issue in his field: individuals replacing professional human therapy with AI chatbots, and corporations trying to reduce healthcare costs at the expense of high-quality human care (p. 3).

• Fulmer, R., Joerin, A., Gentile, B., Lomas, L., & Osborn, M. (2025). Minds in crisis: How the AI revolution is impacting mental health, clinical boundaries, and reality testing. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Mental Health, 12(3), e28441. https://www.mentalhealthjournal.org/articles/minds-in-crisis-how-the-ai-revolution-is-impacting-mental-health.html. [1]

• Miner, A. S., Milstein, A., & Hancock, J. T. (2020). Assessing the de-personalization of psychological services: The risk of AI-induced empathy gaps. Nature Machine Intelligence, 2(8), 423–425.

5. "Duped": Erosion of Trust, Misinformation, and Reality Breakdown

The piece concludes by examining how chronic exposure to potential "AI rouses" leads to a reflexive fear of being tricked, an inability to trust daily stimuli, and how this relates metaphorically to psychosis and reality testing (pp. 3-4).

• Bandy, J., & Diakopoulos, N. (2024). Chronic exposure to synthetic media: Psychological impacts of digital hallucinations and the systematic breakdown of public trust. Human Communication Research, 50(2), 184–199.

• Perlis, R. H., Ognyanova, K., & Santillana, M. (2026). Generative AI use and depressive symptoms among US adults: The role of chronic misinformation anxiety and social isolation. JAMA Network Open, 9(1), e2844128. doi.org. [1]