Common Sense
A new report from Media shows that nearly a third of teens find conversations with artificial intelligence (AI) companions as satisfying or even more satisfying than talking to real-life friends.
The study, which surveyed more than 1,000 teenagers in April and May, showed a dramatic increase in the use of AI in social interactions. More than 70% of teens have used AI companion tools like Character.AI or Replika, and 50% use them regularly. Even general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are used as companionship, emotional support, and role-playing objects.
Ganesh, 18
In an interview with the Associated Press, Nair said: “AI is always on, it will never hate you, it will never evaluate you.” When you talk to AI, you are always right, which brings emotional value to people. ”
However, experts also warn that over-reliance on AI could have long-term consequences.
Principal Investigator Michael
“If teenagers develop social skills on AI platforms, where they are always affirmed, unchallenged, and not learned to interpret social cues,” Robb said…… Then they cannot be fully prepared in the real world. ”
As AI rapidly penetrates into teenagers’ lives like smartphones and social media, these findings raise concerns. As technology advances rapidly and regulation struggles to keep up, researchers urge parents, educators, and policymakers to pay attention to this issue.
These concerns are not limited to teenagers. Another study found that 40% of adults are willing to date AI chatbots,And many have already flirted with it。
