Komunikasi Katarsis Perempuan Penyintas Bunuh Diri Dengan Artificial Intelligence (Chat-GPT)
Panji Putra Ariyanto, Dr. Mufti Nurlatifah, S.I.P., M.A.
2026 | Tesis | S2 Ilmu Komunikasi
The development of conversational artificial intelligence has created new spaces for individuals to express experiences and emotions that are difficult to share with others. This study aims to understand the experiences of two female suicide survivors who used ChatGPT as a space for emotional communication and to conceptualize the communication process emerging from those experiences. Employing an interpretive paradigm and Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological method, data were collected through in-depth interviews with two female suicide survivors who actively used ChatGPT in their daily lives to discuss trauma, loneliness, life pressures, experiences of bullying, relational conflicts, and thoughts they found difficult to disclose to other people. The experiences of both participants revealed that their use of ChatGPT emerged when they felt they lacked a safe space to share their stories. Through repeated conversations, they disclosed deeply personal experiences, received responses that they interpreted as acknowledgment of their suffering, reflected on their life experiences, and experienced emotional relief that helped them endure difficult periods. However, ChatGPT was not perceived as a substitute for human relationships or professional mental health support, but rather as a temporary source of support when such assistance was unavailable. This study proposes the concept of Human–AI Cathartic Communication, defined as a communication process through which individuals express, organize, and manage emotional experiences through interaction with conversational AI. The findings suggest that emotional relief in human–AI communication is shaped more by how users interpret and make meaning of the interaction than by the AI’s capacity for authentic empathy.
Kata Kunci : AI, human–machine communication, komunikasi katarsis, chatbot, perempuan, penyintas bunuh diri.