In 2023, the arrival of Chat GPT 3o heralded many viral conversations about what it means to interact with artificial intelligence (e.g., Roose, 2023). People read about individuals having extended conversations with chatbots, often leading to complex consequences that raise deeper questions. What do we mean by “empathy” in these spaces? What are the ethical consequences for building or using technology for emotional support? There have been cases of large language models giving better and more empathetic medical advice than trained medical workers (Ayers et al., 2023; see later replication by Ovsyannikova et al., 2025). There have also been popular write-ups about people developing relationships with Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms explicitly positioned as romantic partners (Patel, 2024).

In this introductory chapter, we will highlight core themes that unite the chapters throughout the volume, highlighting connections across social sciences, humanities, and engineering and computers science to juxtapose perspectives and illustrate connections and ongoing controversies.

Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have enabled artificial systems to generate responses widely perceived as empathic, raising fundamental questions about the nature and value of empathy. This chapter examines why, despite evidence that AI can equal or even surpass humans in tasks of cognitive empathy, human empathy remains uniquely valued by recipients. We review empirical findings comparing human and AI empathic responses, highlighting the critical role of perceived source, effort, motivation, and trust in shaping recipients’ experiences. We argue that the value of empathy depends on the type of empathy sought – cognitive, affective, or motivational – and that AI may be well suited for some empathic functions but not others. Finally, we consider the broader societal implications of artificial empathy, including cultural variation, trust, skill erosion, and the future of human relationships, outlining key open questions for research on empathy in an AI-mediated world.