Something definitely makes me uneasy about it taking the place of interpersonal connection. But I also think the hardcore backlash involves an over correction that's dismissive of llm's actual language capabilities.

Sycophantic agreement (which I would argue is still palpably and excessively present) undermines its credibility as a source of independent judgment. But at a minimum it's capable of being a sounding board echoing your sentiments back to you with a degree of conceptual understanding that should not be lightly dismissed.