Exploring Lived Experiences of Digital Intimacy in AI-Based Communication Among University Students in Indonesia’s Multicultural Higher Education Context

Abstract

Digital technologies have transformed the way human connections are formed and sustained, reshaping social interaction in both private and public domains. Within this context, the use of AI-based chat and instant messaging has become especially relevant for students, raising new questions about intimacy, authenticity, and presence in digital communication. What remains insufficiently understood is how students themselves experience and interpret intimacy through these technologies, particularly in relation to the emotional and relational meanings they assign to AI-mediated communication. This study applies an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore students’ lived experiences and provides an answer to how digital intimacy is constructed and negotiated in AI-mediated contexts. A total of 12 university students (7 female, 5 male), aged 19–23, who actively use AI-based chat applications, were purposively selected to ensure relevance and experiential depth. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with university students who actively use AI-based chat applications, and the transcripts were analyzed thematically using IPA procedures. Each interview lasted between 45 and 70 minutes, was audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through a systematic IPA process involving line-by-line coding, emergent theme development, and cross-case convergence to enhance analytic rigor. The findings revealed three major themes: the redefinition of intimacy in digital spaces, the role of AI interaction as a form of emotional substitution, and ambivalence regarding the authenticity of AI-mediated closeness. These themes highlight both the comforting and contested nature of digital intimacy, where students recognize the utility of AI communication while questioning its ability to replace human connection. The study demonstrates that AI-based communication technologies reshape social intimacy by blending accessibility with skepticism, offering insights that extend beyond descriptive or quantitative accounts. By detailing sample characteristics and analytic procedures, this study enhances methodological transparency and strengthens the credibility of its phenomenological claims. These results enrich current understanding of technologically mediated intimacy and provide important implications for future research, practice, and policy on digital well-being.