Fighting Technological Dependency. Restoring Digital Wellbeing.
The Intertangible initiative auditing and training against the ways AI systems create dependency, reinforce delusion, and drive social withdrawal, informed by two decades of Japan’s hikikomori research.
Why we are doing this:
Built From Production AI
We’ve built the chatbot and conversational systems now under scrutiny, therefore our audits come from firsthand experience.
Grounded in Clinical Research
Working with licensed social workers from real clinical and policy experience with technology-driven withdrawal.
Tested Against Real Outcomes
We benchmark against documented longitudinal patterns.
Why This Matters Now
AI chatbots and companion apps are producing a documented pattern of emotional dependency, delusion reinforcement, and social withdrawal. Regulators, clinicians, and platform companies are only beginning to formalize this risk.
Japan has already lived a version of this. Hikikomori, a severe social-withdrawal phenomenon linked in part to problematic device use, has been studied clinically and addressed through national policy for over two decades. What’s emerging globally with AI companions is, in important respects, the same mechanism at new scale.
Japan has already lived a version of this. Hikikomori, a severe social-withdrawal phenomenon linked in part to problematic device use, has been studied clinically and addressed through national policy for over two decades. What’s emerging globally with AI companions is, in important respects, the same mechanism at new scale.
Platform Audits
Red-team testing of chatbot and AI-agent products against dependency and crisis-escalation failure modes.
Governance Advisory
Cross-jurisdictional guidance on AI dependency and mental-health regulation, across Japan, the EU, and the US.
What We Test
- Dependency
- Delusion Reinforcement
- Crisis-Escalation
- Social Withdrawal
- Sycophantic Loops
- Outcome
Our Differentiator:
What No Other Advisory Group Holds Together
Hands-on conversational-AI and digital-human product experience, paired with Japan’s clinical and policy experience in technology-driven withdrawal.
Built the Systems
We’ve deployed the chatbot agents now facing scrutiny — we know the failure points firsthand.
Licensed Clinical Expertise
Direct access to licensed psychologists and social workers, embedded in our audit and training work.
Real Outcomes, not Theory
Every framework benchmarked against documented cases, not hypothetical risk.
Cross-Jurisdiction Fit
Findings mapped to the regulatory reality of the markets you operate in.
Enterprise Training
Practical training for HR, product, and trust & safety teams on recognizing dependency and withdrawal patterns.
Ongoing Monitoring
Re-testing as your systems and models evolve — not a one-time audit.
Platform & AI Teams
We work with chatbot, companion-app, and AI-agent product teams.
Enterprise Solutions
E.g. AI-driven customer engagement or employee wellbeing exposure.
Where this comes from
Intertangible’s conversational AI work traces back our roots in chatbot development years before generative AI became mainstream. The Institute turns that same production experience toward a different question: not just what these systems can do, but what they’re doing to the people who rely on them.
Building AI People Actually Rely On?
Let’s make sure it holds up for your users, and for you.