A recent survey-based study by Common Sense Media shows that a substantial minority of teenagers surveyed use AI "companions" for social interaction and relationships. In a survey of over a thousand young people aged 13 to 17 last April and May, the researchers found that 33% used applications such as ChatGPT, Character, or Replika for things like conversation, role-playing, emotional support, or just as a friend. Another 43% of those surveyed used AI as a "tool or program," and about a third reported no use of AI at all.
Perhaps more troubling than the percentages were some comments made by teens who were interviewed in an Associated Press report on the survey. An 18-year-old named Ganesh Nair said, "When you're talking to AI, you are always right. You're always interesting. You are always emotionally justified."
The researchers also found that teens were more sophisticated than you might think about the reliability of AI and the wisdom of using it as a substitute for "meat" friends. Half of those surveyed said they do not trust advice given to them by AI, although the younger teens tended to be more trusting. And two-thirds said that their interactions with AI were less satisfying than those with real-life friends, but one-third said they were either about the same or better. And four out of five teens spend more time with real friends than with AI.
The picture that emerges from the survey itself, as opposed to somewhat hyped news reports, is one of curiosity, cautious use, and skepticism. However, there may be a small number of teens who either turn to AI as a more trusted interlocutor than live friends, or develop unhealthy dependencies of various kinds with AI chatbots.
At present, we are witnessing an uncontrolled experiment in how young people deal with AI companions. The firms backing these systems with their multibillion-dollar server farms and sophisticated software are motivated to engage young people especially, as habits developed before age 20 or so tend to stay with us for a lifetime. It's hard to picture a teenager messaging ChatGPT to "grow old along with me," but it may be happening somewhere.
I once knew a woman in New England who kept a life-size cloth doll in her house, made to resemble a former husband. Most people would regard this as a little peculiar. But what difference is there between that sort of thing and spending time in online chats with a piece of software that simulates a caring and sympathetic friend? The interaction with AI is more private, at least until somebody hacks the system. But why does the notion of teenagers who spend time chatting with Character as though it were a real person bother us?
By saying "us," I implicitly separate myself from teens who do this sort of thing. But there are teens who realize the dangers of AI overuse or misuse, and older teens especially expressed concerns to the AP reporter that too much socializing with chatbots could be bad.
The same teen quoted above got "spooked" about AI companions when he learned that a friend of his used his companion to compose a Dear Jill message to his girlfriend of two years when he decided to break up. I suppose that is not much different than a nineteenth-century swain paging through a tome entitled "Letters for All Occasions," although I doubt that even the Victorians were that thorough in providing examples for the troubled ex-suitor.
Lurking in the background of all this is a very old theological principle: idolatry. An idol is anything less than God that we treat as God, in the sense of resorting to it for help instead of God. For those who don't believe in God, idolatry would seem to be an empty concept. But even atheists can see the effects of idolatry in extreme cases, even if they don't acknowledge the God who should be worshipped instead of the idol.
For a teen in a radically dysfunctional household, turning to an AI companion might be a good alternative, but a kind, loving human being would always be better. Kind, loving human beings aren't always available, though, and so perhaps an AI companion would suffice in a pinch like a "donut" spare tire until you can get the flat fixed. But you shouldn't drive on a temporary tire indefinitely, and teens who make AI companions a regular and significant part of their social lives are probably headed for problems.
What kind of problems? Dependency, for one thing. The AI firms are not promoting their companions out of the kindness of their collective hearts, and the more people rely on their products the more money they make. The researchers who executed the survey are concerned that teens who use AI companions that never argue, never disagree with them, and validate everything they say, will be ill-prepared for the real world where other humans have their own priorities, interests, and desires.
In an ideal world, every teen would have a loving mother and father they would trust with their deepest concerns, and perhaps friends as well who would give them good advice. Not many of us grew up in that ideal world, however, and so perhaps teens in really awful situations may find some genuine solace in turning to AI companions rather than humans.
The big news of this survey is the fact that use of AI companions among teens is so widespread, though still in the minority. The next thing to do is to focus on those small numbers of teens for which AI companions are not simply something fun to play with, but form a deep and significant part of their emotional lives. These are the teens we should be the most concerned about, and finding out why they get so wrapped up with AI companions and what needs the companions satisfy will take us a long way toward understanding this new potential threat to the well-being of teenagers, who are the future of our society.
Sources: The AP article "Teens say they are turning to AI for friendship" appears on the AP website at https://apnews.com/article/ai-companion-generative-teens-mental-health-9ce59a2b250f3bd0187a717ffa2ad21f, and the Common Sense Media survey on which it was based is at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/talk-trust-and-trade-offs_2025_web.pdf.
