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The automation of emotions: AI companions in a comparative and multidisciplinary legal perspective
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The automation of emotions: AI companions in a comparative and multidisciplinary legal perspective

Elena Falletti
pp.1-7
The automation of emotions: AI companions in a comparative and multidisciplinary legal perspective (The university of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 07/05/2026)
07/05/2026

Abstract

AI Companions are advanced Generative AI systems capable of interacting with users in a personalized, affective, and human-like manner. These systems are perceived as authentic experts across sensitive domains including medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, or as sources of comfort during periods of vulnerability, grief, or emotional distress. Such developments risk eroding the boundaries between the various elements that constitute an individual’s personality: not only rational thought, but also the capacity to experience and respond to human emotions. Who is responsible for the actions, statements, or harms produced by an AI Companion? This dynamic raises legal concerns regarding the fiduciary relationship that may arise between a human user and a machine which, although only apparently sentient, exhibits reactions capable of generating reliance and legitimate expectations that may, under certain circumstances, acquire juridical relevance. The analysis aims to contribute to the emerging debate on whether artificial agents should remain confined within the domain of legal objects or evolve toward a novel category of juridical subjectivity.
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