Generative Confidants: How do People Experience Trust in Emotional Support from Generative AI (Dataset), 2025

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Our data collection had two parts. First, participants completed a two-week diary study, a research method where participants regularly record their experiences as they occur in their natural contexts. We asked participants to provide a diary entry whenever they finished a conversation with generative AI related to emotional support, from immediately after the conversation to 2-3 days later. Participants provided diary entries through an online form that required them to answer 12-questions about why they interacted with generative AI for emotional support and what they experienced during their interaction, including reflections on their feelings of trust. We asked for a minimum of 3 diary entries over the two-week period and every 2-4 days we reminded participants via email to to complete their diary entries. Second, participants who completed at least 3 diaries were invited to an interview. We conducted 24 semi-structured online interviews ranging from 25 to 75 minutes, guiding participants through questions about the meanings of trust and AI, personal experiences and behaviours of generative AI when seeking emotional support, their contexts of interaction, and wider aspects of the AI ecosystem.