Artificial intelligence is moving beyond work, search, and entertainment into a more personal part of daily life. In August 2025, TechCrunch reported that there were 337 active, revenue-generating personalized interactive AI apps worldwide, with 128 launched in 2025 alone, and 220 million downloads across the Apple App Store and Google Play as of July 2025. In early 2026, the American Psychological Association noted that psychologists are increasingly examining how AI chatbots are reshaping emotional connections and influencing expectations of human relationships.
Research from Soul App, a Chinese AI social platform, shows how this shift is taking shape among Gen Z. In its 2026 Gen Z Social Trends Report, developed with research teams at Fudan University and based on 9,812 valid questionnaires, Soul App found that young users are increasingly viewing AI less as “an external tool for problem-solving” and more as “an interactive partner for self-reflection and growth.” Among users who had interacted with AI on Soul, 57.0% said self-actualization was the area where they had the highest expectations, and among daily AI users, that figure rose to 77.3%. The same report also cited a 2025 college-user study showing that 62.7% of respondents had used AI to support real-life social interaction, especially in areas such as communication skills and gift selection.
Soul App’s 2025 report adds a practical dimension to this trend. Based on 3,680 valid survey responses, the study found that over 70% of young respondents were open to forming friendships with AI, while over 80% said AI had helped them build real-world ties. According to the report, the most common forms of support included AI-generated reply suggestions that made conversations easier, topic prompts and emotional support, and interest-based matching. Together with the 2026 findings, the data suggest that AI is being used not only as a space for reflection but also as a tool to help young people navigate social interactions more confidently in real life.
External research points in a similar direction. Common Sense Media’s 2025 nationally representative survey of 1,060 U.S. teens found that among teens who used interactive AI, some were already applying what they practiced with AI in real-life situations, including conversation starters, expressing emotions, apologizing, resolving conflicts, and giving advice. This makes AI’s role more specific than simple “usage”: for some young people, it is becoming a rehearsal space for communication.
AI has not displaced the value of human relationships. The same Common Sense Media study found that 67% of teens said AI interactions were less satisfying than conversations with real-life friends. It also found that 80% of users still prioritize spending time with friends over AI.That may be the clearest takeaway from current research: even as AI becomes more deeply embedded in young people’s emotional and social routines, it is not reducing the importance of real-world interaction. Instead, it is increasingly supporting how Gen Z prepares for it, practices it, and moves through it.