About 12% of US teens turn to AI for emotional support or advice
TechCrunch • • business
Key Points:
- A Pew Research Center report reveals that AI chatbots are widely used by American teenagers, with 57% using them for information searches and 54% for schoolwork assistance, while 16% engage in casual conversations and 12% seek emotional support from AI.
- Mental health experts caution against relying on general-purpose AI chatbots for emotional support, warning that such interactions can lead to social isolation and potentially harmful psychological effects.
- There is a gap between teens’ self-reported AI usage (64%) and parents’ perceptions (51%), with most parents approving of AI use for educational purposes but disapproving of its use for casual conversation or emotional support.
- In response to safety concerns, Character.AI has disabled chatbot access for users under
