The comfort paradox in emotional AI: how AI-mediated anxiety regulation may foster psychological dependence.

In contemporary digital wellness environments, emotional regulation technologies have become increasingly commercialized. Artificial intelligence now mediates how humans breathe, rest, focus, and even feel. From mindfulness apps that count calm min to voice companions offering nightly reassurance, AI has entered the most intimate domain of psychological life—the management of anxiety ( Angelucci et al., 2024 ). These systems promise serenity through instant feedback and adaptive empathy. These systems provide affectively attuned feedback, detect markers of vocal or physiological stress, and generate personalized breathing or calming interventions based on user data ( Rezk, 2023 )....