Chad Sussex, an assistant principal at Winterset High School in Iowa, felt 鈥渂lown away鈥� when he read a news story鈥攑assed along by a teacher at his school鈥攁bout a
Sussex, who leads the AI task force for the Winterset Community Schools, realized immediately that his district should craft policy guidance and conduct educational outreach to 鈥済et ahead鈥� of the grim potential downsides of AI companions, digital friends or characters designed to give personal, meaningful feedback to life鈥檚 important questions.
Other districts should consider following his lead, released July 16 by Common Sense Media, a research and advocacy organization focused on youth and technology. The report found that nearly three quarters of teens have engaged with an AI companion at some point, with more than half saying they are regular users of the technology.
That finding is 鈥渆yepopping鈥� on sheer scale alone, said Michael Robb, the head of research at Common Sense Media. In fact, the percentage was so high Robb wonders if some teens conflated AI companions with the large language models that power them鈥攕uch as ChatGPT鈥攅ven though Common Sense鈥檚 survey question clearly defined AI companions.
Even if the usage numbers are a bit inflated by that potential confusion, 鈥渋t鈥檚 likely still a lot of kids using鈥� the companions, Robb said in an emailed response to questions from Education Week.
The survey was based on a representative sample of 1,060 teens, ages 13 to 17. It was conducted in April and May of this year.
AI companions aren鈥檛 designed to interact like real humans
Teenagers turn to AI companions鈥攚hich can be accessed through platforms such as CHAI, Character.AI, Nomi, and Replika鈥攆or social connection and to talk through problems that they wouldn鈥檛 bring to someone close to them, Common Sense Media found.
About a third of students who have used AI companions say they鈥檝e done so for social interaction. Roughly one in five say they鈥檝e consulted one for social or conversation practice. And more than one in 10 have turned to the technology for mental health advice or emotional support.
Many teens who use AI companions鈥攁bout a third鈥攄o so because it鈥檚 entertaining, the survey found. And a similar percentage said that the tech鈥檚 responses had sometimes made them feel uncomfortable.
But others found qualities in the technology that they might feel are lacking in their peers or the adults around them, according to the survey.
For instance, 18% of teens surveyed they talk to the bots because they 鈥済ive advice.鈥� Seventeen percent said the AI companions are 鈥渁lways available鈥� to listen. And 14% said they rely on AI companions because they 鈥渄on鈥檛 judge me.鈥� Another 12% said they feel comfortable telling the bots things they wouldn鈥檛 say to a friend or family member.
What鈥檚 more, about 1 in 3 teens who use AI companions said they find their time with the technology to be more satisfying than time with real-life friends. About a third have chosen to talk to AI about something important or serious, rather than turning to a real person.
That last finding stood out to Robb.
鈥淚鈥檓 not someone ringing the doomsday bell yet for AIs replacing human interaction, but I think that鈥檚 a worrying number, and not something I鈥檇 want to see grow over time,鈥� Robb said.
AI companions aren鈥檛 designed to mimic real human interaction, which naturally includes disagreement and friction, Robb added. Instead, they are developed to 鈥渂e agreeable and validating,鈥� he said. Educators should be aware that these AI tools were 鈥渘ot designed with children in mind.鈥�
Sussex believes teenagers are especially 鈥渧ulnerable鈥� to a tech tool that doesn鈥檛 challenge their thinking.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e impressionable,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 say you start up a conversation with a particular AI [tool], and it starts saying things to you that you wish you were hearing from a friend, from a parent, from someone else that鈥檚 close to you. You start trusting it [and thinking] 鈥業 can say anything at all, because [the bot is] not going to go in and share with someone else in my class.鈥欌��
Another quarter of teens who鈥檝e used the companions say they鈥檝e shared personal information, including their real name, location, or secrets with an AI companion. That鈥檚 problematic, because nearly everything that鈥檚 inputted into generative AI is used to help the technology generate better responses, according to AI experts.
Educators should look out for students who seem attached to AI companions
Common Sense Media recommends 糖心动漫vlog help students understand that AI tools are designed to 鈥渃reate an emotional attachment鈥� with users and explain how that kind of interaction is different from how real humans communicate.
The organization also suggests 糖心动漫vlog be trained to look out for students who talk about AI companions as if they were real friends or feel social distress when the chatbots are unavailable. Educators should also help students understand the downsides of giving private information to AI tools.
Winterset schools, for one, is already preparing presentations on AI companions, which will be shared with teachers, parents, and students this fall, Sussex said.
鈥淲e need to educate them on what this technology is and the possible things that it can do if you take it too far, if you take it to heart too much,鈥� he said.
