# The Role of AI in Peer Support for Young People: A Study of Preferences for Human- and AI-Generated Responses

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.02711 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.02711/

## Key facts

- Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 96 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 May 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Human-AI Collaboration Enables More Empathic Conversations in Text-based Peer-to-Peer Mental Health Support](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.15144/) (2022)
- [Do LLMs Possess a Personality? Making the MBTI Test an Amazing Evaluation for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16180/) (2023)
- [Artificial Intelligence is stupid and causal reasoning won't fix it](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.07371/) (2020)
- [ChatGPT as a Therapist Assistant: A Suitability Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09873/) (2023)
- [Perceived Trustworthiness of Natural Language Generators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18176/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [CounselBench: A Large-Scale Expert Evaluation and Adversarial Benchmarking of Large Language Models in Mental Health Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08584/) (2025)
- [Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narratives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.15783/) (2025)
- [AI-induced sexual harassment: Investigating Contextual Characteristics and User Reactions of Sexual Harassment by a Companion Chatbot](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.04299/) (2025)
- [Word Overuse and Alignment in Large Language Models: The Influence of Learning from Human Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.01930/) (2025)
- [Like a Therapist, But Not: Reddit Narratives of AI in Mental Health Contexts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.20747/) (2026)
- [AI-Associated Lexical Shifts Across 34 Languages: Cross-Lingual Convergence and Diachronic Uptake in News Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.25358/) (2026)
- [Therapy as an NLP Task: Comparing LLMs and Human Peers Behaviors in CBT Sessions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.02244/) (2024)
- [Chaplains' Reflections on the Design and Usage of AI for Conversational Care](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.04017/) (2026)
- ["Is This Really a Human Peer Supporter?": Misalignments Between Peer Supporters and Experts in LLM-Supported Interactions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.09354/) (2025)
- ["I Said Things I Needed to Hear Myself": Peer Support as an Emotional, Organisational, and Sociotechnical Practice in Singapore](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.09362/) (2025)
- [Investigating AI in Peer Support via Multi-Module System-Driven Embodied Conversational Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.22269/) (2025)
- [Culturally Situated AI Safety for Youth: Saudi Arabian Perspectives of Youth, Parents and Teachers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.26494/) (2026)
- [Towards Emotion Consistency Analysis of Large Language Models in Emotional Conversational Contexts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.06476/) (2026)
- [TA-RAG: Tone-Aware Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Peer-Support Health Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.06794/) (2026)
- [Right Words, Wrong Moment: A Clinician-Grounded Analysis of Distress in 19,930 Conversations between Young People and ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.35953/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is integrated into everyday technology, including news, education, and social media. AI has further pervaded private conversations as conversational partners, auto-completion, and response suggestions. As social media becomes young people's main method of peer support exchange, we need to understand when and how AI can facilitate and assist in such exchanges in a beneficial, safe, and socially appropriate way. We asked 622 young people to complete an online survey and evaluate blinded human- and AI-generated responses to help-seeking messages. We found that participants preferred the AI-generated response to situations about relationships, self-expression, and physical health. However, when addressing a sensitive topic, like suicidal thoughts, young people preferred the human response. We also discuss the role of training in online peer support exchange and its implications for supporting young people's well-being. Disclaimer: This paper includes sensitive topics, including suicide ideation. Reader discretion is advised.