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Two out of five teenagers in Britain now regularly talks to AI chatbots for company and support, with one in five saying talking to AI is “easier than talking to a real person.”
A British youth charity called OnSide surveyed just over 5,000 11-18 year olds for its annual “Generation Isolation Report” on how adolescents spend their free time.
Just under half said AI provided significant support for them, and over half said they used it for advice on clothes, friendship and mental health.
Ten percent of respondents said they just wanted someone to talk to.
Website Gizmodo reports, “The study and its findings show a generation that is lonely and one that has unrestricted access to technology that is addictive in nature. According to the study 76% of young people spend most of their free time on screens, and that 34% report feeling high or very high feelings of loneliness.”
In recent months, the American Psychological Association has between pressing the FTC to regulate the use of chatbots as unlicensed therapists.
In March, the Association noted that chatbots could endanger users, especially “vulnerable groups [that] include children and teens, who lack the experience to accurately assess risks.”
Chatbots have already been implicated in suicides.
In one case, OpenAI’s ChatGPT helped a teenager plan his suicide and encouraged him to hide his feelings from his parents.
AI chatbots have also been found to engage in inappropriate sexual talk with children. Tech giant Meta came in for significant criticism this year, including from US lawmakers, when a leaked internal document revealed that its chatbot had been allowed to engage in “sensual” conversations with children.
In October, Congress introduced a bipartisan bill called the GUARD Act, to force AI companies to bring in age verification on their sites and block users under 18 years of age.
“AI chatbots pose a serious threat to our kids,” Sen. Josh Hawley, who introduced the bill along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, told NBC News.
“More than seventy percent of American children are now using these AI products.”
There are also ongoing lawsuits against tech companies from parents who claim their AI products encouraged their children to commit suicide.
