Weijers, Dan M.Munn, NicholasDennis, Matthew JKönigs, Peter2026-08-052026-08-052026-09-18Weijers, D., & Munn, N. (2026). AI companions: Assessing future risks and benefits to well-being. In Dennis, M. J., & Königs, P. (Eds.), The future of digital well-being: Interdisciplinary perspectives on human flourishing in the age of AI (pp. 133-158). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003706236-12https://hdl.handle.net/10289/18506In the last decade, millions of people have used artificially intelligent (AI) social chatbots that are specifically designed to be a companion (Weijers & Munn, 2024a). Many of these users even consider an AI companion to be their best friend or romantic partner (Weijers & Munn, 2022; Xie et al., 2023). With loneliness soaring (Maese, 2023) and many AI chatbots being free to use, it may soon be the case that a billion people consider an AI to be their friend. Given the importance of friendship for well-being, this chapter draws on theoretical and empirical literature to highlight the likely impacts of AI companions on human well-being. In doing so, we engage in digital well-being research, which includes among its aims the investigation of the impact of digital technologies on what makes humans’ lives go well for them (Burr et al., 2020; Dennis, 2021).enThis is an Author Accepted version of a chapter published in The future of digital well-being: Interdisciplinary perspectives on human flourishing in the age of AI © the authors 2027Chapter in Book10.4324/9781003706236-12