Exploring the Role of AI Chatbot in Self-Doubt Among College Students: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study examined how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots mediate self-doubt among college students through the lens of Dialogical Self Theory (DST). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 college students and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five interrelated themes were identified: (1) AI-mediated articulation of multi-voiced self-doubt; (2) AI as a dialogical other in moments of self-doubt; (3) reworking self-doubt in relation to social and cultural expectations; (4) negotiating authorship and authenticity in AI-supported self-doubt; and (5) questioning judgment in AI-mediated self-doubt. Findings indicate that, first, AI chatbot interaction made self-doubt more observable and discussable by externalizing competing thoughts and providing a low-pressure space for reflection. Second, AI sometimes redirected participants’ attention from comparison, anxiety, or external expectations toward personally meaningful goals, values, and possible actions. Third, AI-mediated support remained ambivalent: while it could help students clarify their thinking, it could also intensify uncertainty, reinforce dependence on external confirmation, or blur the boundary between personal judgment and AI-shaped interpretation. These findings extend DST by showing how AI-generated responses may function as technologically mediated discursive prompts within students’ dialogical self-processes, while also highlighting the need to examine the developmental and ethical implications of AI-supported self-reflection.