Researchers Warn AI Use Could Impede Teen Relationships

Editorial analysis: For designers of conversational AI and researchers studying user behavior, rising adolescent use of chatbots changes the contexts where emotional and relational skills are practiced, with product design and safety controls becoming consequential for developmental outcomes. Reported facts: Writing in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, researchers from Arizona State University say that teenagers increasingly use AI-powered conversational tools for advice about friendships, family conflicts and romantic ties, and that reliance on these systems may bypass opportunities to develop relational skills (News-Medical reporting on the paper). Lead author Thao Ha, an associate professor at ASU, is quoted warning that the technologies "are developing super-fast, faster than we can keep up with as scientists, faster than governance and policy can keep up with." Youth contributors in the study described concerns that AI can replace human connection.