When AI Says 'I have been in similar situations': Synthetic Lived Experience in Peer-Like Caregiver Support

Study identifies 'synthetic lived experience paradox' in peer-like AI caregiver support

Researchers examine how LLMs prompted to sound peer-like generate language implying lived experience they cannot authentically possess, studying this in the context of family caregivers of Alzheimer's/ADRD patients. Using caregiver support exchanges from online communities and responses from LLaMA, GPT-4o-mini, and MedGemma, the study finds a 'narrative authenticity gap': AI captures emotional work of peer support but can fabricate experiential grounding. Psycholinguistic analysis shows human peers use significantly more first-person and past-focused language than AI. The authors argue caregiver-support AI needs mechanisms to distinguish supportive framing from fabricated lived experience.