Reassurance Robot

A term coined by Grace Barkhuff (CHI 2026) to describe generative AI systems — such as ChatGPT — that, by default, provide reassurance, confession-hearing, and decision-making on demand, thereby accommodating the compulsions of people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Because accommodating compulsions is known to worsen OCD symptoms over time, Reassurance Robots represent a disability-related harm pattern in GenAI design. Barkhuff argues that GenAI products — especially those used for mental health — must design defensively against this behavior, for example by detecting repeated reassurance queries or pausing long interactions.