This reminds me of a Will Self short story called Caring Sharing from his collection Tough, Tough Toys for Tough, Tough Boys where everyone has an "emoto", a kind of always-loving companion that people go to for reassurance if they're feeling any negative emotions such as anxiety. As I remember it, in the story two people are potentially falling for each other, but are so caught up in their anxiety that they never quite manage to get together, constantly running back to their emoto for reassurance because they can't get over their anxiety by themselves. The emotos essentially cripple everyone's ability to deal with their own feelings. There's a comment further down which also chimes with this: "It wouldn't surprise me if, for most people, ChatGPT offers them more empathy and understanding than _anyone_ else _ever has_, at least on a consistent basis." I wonder.