New Anthropic Research: How people use Claude for emotional support. From millions of anonymized conversations, we studied how adults use AI for emotional and personal needs—from navigating loneliness and relationships to asking existential questions.

These “affective” conversations are a small but meaningful slice of usage, representing 2.9% of Claude use. Read the research:

Conversations tended to end slightly more positively than they began. We can’t claim these shifts represent lasting emotional benefits for users, but the absence of clear negative spirals is reassuring.

We’ll continue to research the affective uses of Claude using our privacy-preserving tools. We’re also working with partners like mental health experts @throughlinecare to learn the best ways for Claude to deal with the most emotionally challenging kinds of conversations.

If you want to work with us and help shape how we keep Claude safe for people, our Safeguards team is hiring.