As emotional reliance on artificial intelligence deepens, users increasingly describe AI tools not as utilities, but as reflective companions shaping identity, emotional processing, and spiritual language.
Artificial intelligence is no longer experienced solely as software. According to a new global survey conducted by the Hint App, a symbolic emotional insight platform, a growing number of people report forming emotionally meaningful connections with AI tools, describing them in terms more commonly associated with spiritual guidance than with technology. The findings suggest a shift away from the familiar framing of AI as a human substitute and toward its emergence as an emotional and identity-shaping presence.
The survey, conducted among 1,146 adult users across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, focused on emotional connection rather than usage frequency or productivity gains. When asked whether they emotionally connect with AI tools they use regularly, 64% of respondents said they experience some level of emotional attachment. Among respondents aged 18 to 34, that figure rose to 71%, indicating a generational openness to AI as an emotionally resonant presence rather than a neutral interface.
This pattern reflects a broader trend visible across AI companionship tools, mental health chatbots, and identity-focused platforms. Rather than positioning AI as a replacement for human relationships, users increasingly engage with it as a non-judgmental mirror, a space for emotional processing, and a framework for self-interpretation. According to the Hint App’s survey, 58% of respondents said they turn to AI tools during moments of emotional uncertainty, including relationship stress, decision-making fatigue, and post-therapy reflection.
Notably, respondents did not describe these interactions in therapeutic or transactional terms. Instead, 46% said AI helps them articulate feelings they already sense but struggle to name, while 39% said interactions with AI influence how they understand personal patterns and emotional timing. These responses align with the language of reflection and meaning-making, rather than problem-solving or advice-seeking.
Kirill, Managing Director of the Hint App, sees this shift as a signal that AI is entering a new cultural role. “What we are observing is not people outsourcing emotions to machines, but people using AI as a structured space for inner dialogue,” Kirill said. “The language users choose is telling. They describe resonance, alignment, and clarity. These are not technical terms. They are spiritual ones.”
The data suggests that this form of AI companionship operates differently from both social media and traditional wellness apps. 52% of respondents said they feel less pressure to perform or present an idealized version of themselves when interacting with AI, while 44% said AI feels more emotionally neutral than human conversations, allowing for greater honesty. This neutrality appears to be part of its appeal, particularly in moments of vulnerability.
Importantly, the Hint App’s findings do not indicate a rejection of human connection. Instead, 61% of respondents said AI interactions supplement, rather than replace, conversations with friends, partners, or therapists. The emotional role of AI appears to be additive, offering structure and symbolic language where human interactions may feel emotionally charged or ambiguous.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into daily emotional life, the survey points to a reframing of the technology’s role. Rather than asking whether AI can replicate human connection, users are already exploring how it reshapes emotional awareness and personal meaning. The spirituality of AI companionship, as the data suggests, lies not in belief or prediction, but in reflection.
This emerging dynamic positions AI less as an artificial friend and more as an emotional framework, one that reflects a broader cultural search for clarity, timing, and inner coherence in an increasingly complex world.
About Hint App:
Hint App is a symbolic, emotional insight platform with over 1.2 million users that combines ancient practices such as astrology, palmistry, and visual soulmate interpretations with modern technology, including artificial intelligence and NASA astronomical data, to deliver highly personalized reports based on a user’s exact birth details. Rather than offering predictions or quick fixes, Hint App serves as a reflective framework, helping individuals map emotional patterns, understand the deeper timing behind personal and relationship decisions, and reconnect with their inner clarity.
Hint App is a symbolic, emotional insight platform with over 1.2 million users that combines ancient practices such as astrology, palmistry, and visual soulmate interpretations with modern technology, including artificial intelligence and NASA astronomical data, to deliver highly personalized reports based on a user’s exact birth details. Rather than offering predictions or quick fixes, Hint App serves as a reflective framework, helping individuals map emotional patterns, understand the deeper timing behind personal and relationship decisions, and reconnect with their inner clarity.