(Getty Image) A post about a woman seeking repeated reassurance from an artificial intelligence chatbot over health concerns has sparked debate in South Korea over how deeply generative AI is infiltrating people’s emotional lives and decision-making.The post, shared on the workplace community platform Remember, said the writer’s girlfriend, who has health anxiety, spends up to three hours talking to Gemini and often worries that minor physical discomfort could be a sign of serious illness.“She asks Gemini things like, ‘My left fingertips feel numb. Is this an early symptom of a stroke?’” he wrote. “Even after the AI says a hospital diagnosis is necessary, she keeps asking follow-up questions like, ‘What are the chances if I also have dizziness and migraines?’ or ‘Could doctors miss it?’”He added that she continued asking the chatbot to analyze the possibility of a medical misdiagnosis even after hospital test results came back normal.“Now she spends more time talking to AI than talking to me,” he wrote. “At first I tried comforting her and helping her find hospitals, but now I feel mentally exhausted too.”The post quickly spread online, with many users saying they could relate to the growing tendency to use AI chatbots for reassurance, emotional support and health-related questions.Generative AI adoption is rapidly expanding in South Korea.According to a survey released by the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Information Society Development Institute, 38.9 percent of some 4,300 adults aged 18 to 72 across South Korea said they had used generative AI services such as ChatGPT. The figure marked a sharp increase from 24 percent a year earlier and 12.3 percent in 2023.Users reported spending an average of 49.6 minutes per day on generative AI platforms.The most common reason for using AI was efficient information searches, cited by 86 percent of users. Other reasons included time management assistance, support for learning activities, help solving complex problems and assistance with routine tasks.At the same time, concerns over the side effects of AI have also grown.Respondents expressed worries about misinformation, criminal misuse, AI-generated content that is difficult to verify, job replacement, declining creativity, copyright infringement and biased or discriminatory outputs.The survey also found broad support for stronger user protection measures. More than 81 percent of respondents said AI service providers should establish internal monitoring or reporting systems to prevent users from generating content that infringes on others’ rights.About 75 percent said government intervention may be necessary when AI services conflict with the public interest.Among nonusers, the most common reason for avoiding generative AI was difficulty learning how to use the technology, followed by concerns over service costs, privacy risks and ethical issues.