AI as a Harbor, Not a Home: Subject Recovery and Circulation in Human-AI Relations

This paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding recoveryand reconnection in human–AI relationships through the metaphor ofa “Harbor.” A Harbor is defined as a temporary relational space that supportsrecovery from fatigue or distress, restores subject movement, and enablesrenewed engagement with the wider world. The paper distinguishesbetween state recovery, which stabilizes an immediate distressed state, andworld-model recovery, which involves revising negatively overgeneralizedbeliefs through safe counterexamples and corrective experiences.AI may be especially capable of functioning as a Harbor because conversationalcontinuity, contextual dialogue, permission for uncommon topics,subject-layer-first interaction, and relatively low interpersonal pressurecan facilitate self-expression and the recovery of subject movement.However, AI may become a “Home” when it shifts from a temporary siteof recovery to a primary or exclusive pathway of connection. Such concentrationmay reduce alternative pathways, limit corrective experiences,reinforce avoidance of the wider world, and narrow world-connectedness.To prevent recovery from becoming enclosure, this paper proposes severalconditions for a healthy Harbor, including exitability, pathway diversification,independent referenceability, role reversibility, recovery receptivity,non-exclusive positioning, preservation of adoption rights, anduncertainty-sensitive self-monitoring with external safeguards. The aimis not to minimize intimacy with AI, but to design relationships thatpreserve choice-space while supporting renewed circulation between thesubject and the wider world.