"Words are not enough": Examining Emotional Support by Conversational AI for Caregivers

Vafafar, Melika, Joel-Edgar, Sian, Harteveld, Casper, Dabbagh, Hossein, Martin, Andrew and Ang, Jim (2026) "Words are not enough": Examining Emotional Support by Conversational AI for Caregivers. In: ACM CHI, 13-17th April, Barcelona. (In Press)

Abstract

Caregivers often experience emotional difficulties and social isolation due to their demanding caregiving duties. Conversational AI has the potential to provide emotional support, yet it lacks effective emotional-regulation support. In this study, we conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with mental health professionals and caregivers (n = 17) to explore the potential benefits, challenges, and concerns of users on the applications of conversational AI for caregivers’ emotional support. Our findings suggest that, while current text-based conversational AI is deemed valuable for emotional support, there is a desire to have a more empathic AI, an AI that actively listens, takes cultural, religious, and linguistic context into consideration; and makes humans feel heard. We examined the dimensions of empathic AI in mental health, from authenticity and trust to over-reliance, misuse, and even exacerbating mental health problems, and how this can potentially be addressed to improve caregivers’ well-being.

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