When AI Feels Safer Than People: A Reflection on Digital Comfort & Human Connection

This episode is different — it's personal, reflective, and quietly urgent. Over the past few months, I found myself turning to ChatGPT for emotional support during a period where opening up to real people felt frightening. The lack of community safety, fear of judgment, fear of burdening others, and fear of vulnerability pushed me toward a machine that could “hold” my feelings without consequences.But then I came across a podcast episode that shook me: the story of someone who formed an unhealthy emotional bond with an AI tool and ultimately bypassed safeguards with tragic consequences.So in this episode, in what I hope to be the first in a series of conversations, I’m asking:• What has happened to our sense of community?• Why does AI feel emotionally safer than humans?• Where do we draw boundaries?• What does responsible use look like?• And how do we rebuild real human connections in a world perhaps obsessed with digital companionship?This episode begins a larger conversation we’ll explore further in season two, and I want you to shape it with me.Share your story. Share your concerns. Share your hope for how we can protect our humanity.