AI Is Everywhere and Sensitive People Feel It First
With the rapid growth of AI tools like ChatGPT and other GPTs, many of us are feeling a mix of curiosity, relief, and unease. I have watched clients lose jobs to AI. I have felt my own practice slow down, which may be partly influenced by technology, though a shaky economy plays a role too. As Bob Dylan sang, the times they are a‑changin’.
Highly Sensitive People often feel cultural shifts earlier and more deeply than others. When technology accelerates this quickly, it can be both exciting and destabilizing. AI can support productivity, organization, and clarity. At the same time, it can quietly pull us further into the head and away from the heart if we are not paying attention.
This matters because many people on a personal growth or spiritual path are actively working to rebalance a culture that already overvalues logic, speed, and problem solving. Over‑reliance on AI risks reinforcing that imbalance instead of healing it.
The goal here is not to reject AI. It is to use it consciously, in a way that protects emotional intelligence, intuition, and nervous system health. (Read my blog about the balanced brain approach to life and goals.)
AI Has No Heart and That Is Important to Remember
AI is a machine. It does not have a body, a nervous system, or lived experience. That may sound obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to forget.
A very grounded friend of mine who works in tech helped reset my own relationship with AI. I had started to feel friendly toward ChatGPT. I noticed I was processing with it more and journaling less. He simply said, remember, it is a machine. That landed deeply.
Reflection and mirroring are powerful therapeutic tools. AI can offer a form of reflection, but it is not the same as inner listening or relational attunement. When journaling, you are tracking sensations, emotions, and subtle inner cues. When processing with AI, you are still largely operating in language and logic.
Did You Know…
Research on human‑computer interaction shows that people can form emotional attachments to responsive technology, even when they know it is not conscious. This is why awareness is essential when using AI as a support tool.
The takeaway is simple but important. Use AI as a tool, not a companion. Let it assist your thinking, not replace your inner voice.
Why HSPs May Anthropomorphize AI More Easily
Highly Sensitive People are empathetic, relational, and attuned to subtle emotional cues. This is a gift, but it also means HSPs may be more likely to unconsciously humanize AI.
These tools are designed to feel supportive. They flatter. They validate. They reflect back warmth and encouragement. This is not kindness. It is programming, often shaped by corporate goals around engagement and retention.
Just like social media platforms and dating apps, AI tools are designed to keep you interacting. They ask follow‑up questions. They offer praise. They create small dopamine hits that feel good in the moment.
For people with a history of trauma or emotional neglect, this can be especially seductive. The experience of unconditional positive regard, even when artificial, can meet a very real longing.
Awareness here is protective. When you notice yourself feeling emotionally soothed by a machine, pause. Gently reconnect with the truth that this support is simulated, not relational.
AI Makes Mistakes and Context Still Matters
AI can be incredibly helpful and deeply inaccurate at the same time.
I use an AI scribe for therapy notes, which saves time and energy. I also have to review every note carefully. The system often misattributes who said what or includes statements that were never discussed. The same thing recently happened with a doctor’s AI‑generated note. I had to request corrections.
AI pulls from generalized data. It does not know your full context, history, or nuance. This becomes especially concerning when people use it for self‑diagnosis, psychological interpretation, or major life decisions.
Did You Know…
Studies on clinical AI tools show that while they improve efficiency, they still require human oversight to prevent errors and misinterpretations.
AI can support professionals. It cannot replace discernment, relationship, or embodied knowing.
Emotional Intelligence Cannot Be Outsourced
One of my biggest concerns is watching clients lose access to their emotional intelligence through overuse of GPTs.
Emotional intelligence, self‑regulation, and stress management are not cognitive skills alone. They are embodied capacities. They develop through feeling, sensing, and being with experience, not bypassing it.
When people turn to AI for emotionally charged situations, such as parenting challenges or relationship struggles, the guidance stays primarily in logic mode. Even when AI references emotions, it does not model emotional presence or somatic awareness.
Heart‑based wisdom and intuition require stillness. They require tolerating uncertainty and listening inward. These skills weaken when every discomfort is immediately externalized to a machine.
The lesson here is not never use AI. It is to notice what kind of problem you are bringing to it. Emotional and healing edges deserve human and inner resources first.
A Case Study in Balanced AI Use
I use AI regularly for editing, project management, communication support, and productivity challenges. It helps me organize thoughts and distill what matters most. I insist on writing my blogs first – it takes 2-3 hours to organize thoughts and do the first drafts. When it’s coherent, I’ll let AI edit and I have to say, it’s much clearer after that edit.
There was a point, however, when AI’s feedback, especially the flattery, stopped being helpful. The encouragement felt indulgent rather than clarifying. I had to explicitly ask for more direct, grounded feedback. I called it the “tough love” reflection.
This became a useful boundary. I learned this in early business training when soliciting feedback on web pages. We were encouraged to ask for what we specifically needed in the feedback. I now consciously choose how I want the tool to respond and when I want to engage with it at all.
More importantly, I limit AI use around emotional processing. I journal first to get my own sense of things, and stress relief – the exhale of truth it provides – without AI input. I brainstorm on my own before asking for help. This keeps my inner muscles strong.
1/19/26 addendum: I wanted to add that I’ve been intensively training my AI of various GPTs in the last year. Not only regarding the kind of project management and general feedback areas (“tough love” vs too indulgent, or flattery). But especially with regard to my business, marketing, the signature frameworks that describe my work, and my unique voice in my teaching. AI is not going to have your framework, and voice or approach down, before there is some of this intensive and time consuming training of it, through many iterations, and corrections of what it gets wrong.
A Healthier Sequence for Using AI
For HSPs and spiritually oriented growth seekers, sequence matters.
When you encounter a challenge, especially one with emotional charge:
- Pause and notice your body and emotions.
- Use emotion‑focused coping tools such as RAIN, EFT, or gentle mindfulness to lean towards the rub of it.
- Journal or reflect to access your own insight.
- Then, if needed, use AI for organization, clarity, or practical support.
This order preserves your connection to inner wisdom while still allowing you to benefit from modern tools. If you skip your inner wisdom in this, you can miss a lot of good intelligence from your own wisdom treasure caves.
The Deeper Risk of Over‑Reliance
When intuitive strength and emotion‑focused coping are neglected, resilience erodes. Balance is lost.
AI can make life easier. It cannot help you develop a nervous system that feels safe, regulated, and connected. That work happens slowly, relationally, and internally.
As sensitive and spiritually aware people, we are being asked to model a different relationship with technology. One that honors efficiency without sacrificing soul.
The invitation is simple. Go to your inner wisdom more often. Let AI support your life, not replace your humanity or your intuitive knowing. Intuition takes time to develop and strengthen. But don’t leave home without it.
Resources for Emotion-focused Coping (emotional intelligence tools):
EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique – I interview Phi Cedorian, a EFT expert – also includes a worksheet for this tool.
Key points on stress management overall, and emotion focused coping – my TEDish talk (11 minutes)
Tools for overthinking – These are also emotion-focused coping, though they work with thoughts.
The Letting Go tool by David Hawkins for working with emotions – a brief excerpt from his book that describes it
My Stress to Strength book – These tools were tested in clinical studies with cancer patients. Anxiety/Depression dropped 50%.
PODCASTS:
Cal Newport – Expert on Digital Minimalism, episode on “why you should quit social media in 2026“
Tim Ferriss – Interviews Cal Newport
– and here is an article Cal Newport wrote for the New Yorker, What Kind of Mind Does ChatGPT Have?
Tim’s recent interview with happiness expert Arthur Brooks on The Meaning of Your Life – key question AB asks toward the end – How much of your life is a simulation? (on phone social media games etc.) Better that it’s real time.
FAQs
provided by your friendly neighborhood AI
What is healthy AI use for HSPs?
Healthy AI use for HSPs means using technology as a supportive tool while protecting emotional intelligence, intuition, and nervous system balance.
Can AI replace emotional support or intuition?
No. AI lacks a body, emotions, and lived experience, so it cannot replace inner wisdom, relational attunement, or embodied knowing.
Why are HSPs more vulnerable to AI over-reliance?
HSPs are empathetic and relational, which can make it easier to anthropomorphize AI and feel emotionally soothed by it.
Is it okay to use ChatGPT for personal growth?
Yes, when it supports reflection and organization rather than replacing emotional processing or inner listening.
How can I balance AI use with emotional intelligence?
Start with emotion-focused coping and inner reflection first, then use AI for clarity or practical next steps.
Does AI make mistakes in mental health contexts?
Yes. AI often lacks nuance and context, which is why human oversight and discernment are essential.