ChatGPT continues to shape understandings of agency, trust, and emotional intelligence, yet much of the existing research centres on its role in industry settings. However, fewer studies have explored how individuals develop emotional and relational connections with digital AI tools and the broader implications for trust. The present paper adopts a critical post humanist perspective that highlights the agentic potential embedded within sociotechnical networks that actively shape interactions. These shifts have implications not only for human-AI relationality but also for information literacy, as ChatGPT functions both as a source of knowledge and as an interactive social presence. TikTok’s participatory culture makes it a space for examining these entanglements, particularly among younger users who contribute to the co-construction of AI’s social roles. This engagement reveals perceptions of AI’s social and epistemic roles, as users are more likely to accept and internalize information from systems they perceive as socially and emotionally responsive.