Teens turning to AI for companionship
By Felicia Rodriguez
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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (WPBF) — With AI use on the rise at school and at home, how closely are you monitoring what your kids do online?
A new survey finds that one in five high school students has had a romantic relationship with AI.
It sounds bizarre, but it’s actually more common than you think.
Seventeen-year-old Ayanna Melvin said she uses artificial intelligence as a tool for entertainment.
“With character AI, you can code it to say what you want to say, so you can give it a description. This chatbot is going to be, let’s say, romantic or possessive or this or that, and it will give you responses based on the description that you typed. So you can create your own girlfriend or boyfriend,” Melvin said.
According to new research from the Center for Democracy and Technology, 42% of students surveyed say they or a friend has used AI for companionship.
“I think that the companionship part is where they have access to this AI Bot or whatever it may be, and they can tell it to do whatever it is that they want it to do. And again, have that positive feedback. And that does something to us mentally, where it gives off that positive dopamine, and it makes us feel good about ourselves. And again, you don’t have to deal with those negative interactions,” said Ezsa Allen, a mental health therapist.
Allen said the trend is alarming.
“Kids need to thrive off that social interaction. It helps to build up their self-esteem their self-confidence. But when they continue to stay in that like mode with the isolation, it increases anxiety and depression,” Allen said.
Allen said the best thing a parent can do is talk to their kids and teens about AI.
As for Melvin, she said her parents have done a good job.
making sure that she understands the difference between reality and fiction.
While she knows people who use AI for companionship, she tries to encourage friends to get out and socialize more.
“You don’t even know what is AI and what’s not anymore. And that’s something that I was thinking about. It’s like we’re not using AI anymore. AI is using us,” Melvin said.
So how can you tell if your child is using AI responsibly? Experts say there are some key indicators:
If your child is using AI instead of search engines to look up information.
Using AI as a therapist for advice, or spending more time in their room and less time socializing.
It may be time to have a talk with them.
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting.
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