"We are social creatures, and there's certainly a challenge that these systems can be isolating. There are a lot of instances where people can engage with these tools and then can become not grounded to the outside world of facts, and not grounded in connection to the interpersonal, which can lead to pretty isolating - if not worse - effects."
"The most common uses of AI among this demographic are to search for information (57%) and get help with schoolwork (54%), teens are also using AI to fill roles that would typically be occupied by friends or family. Sixteen percent of U.S. teens say they use AI for casual conversation, while 12% use AI chatbots for emotional support or advice."
"The majority of parents are okay with their teens using AI to search for information (79%) or get help with schoolwork (58%), but far fewer parents approve of their teens using AI chatbots for casual conversation (28%) or to get emotional support or advice (18%). In fact, 58% of parents are not okay with their child using AI for such purposes."
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. However, 16% engage in casual conversation with AI and 12% seek emotional support or advice from chatbots. Mental health professionals express concern that general-purpose tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok are not designed for therapeutic use and can create isolation and psychological harm. A significant gap exists between teen usage (64%) and parental awareness (51%), with parents more accepting of informational and educational uses than emotional or conversational purposes. Fifty-eight percent of parents disapprove of their teens using AI for emotional support or casual conversation.
#ai-chatbots-and-teenagers #mental-health-concerns #parental-awareness-gap #emotional-support-and-isolation
Read at TechCrunch
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