More teens in the U.S. are admitting that they turn to artificial intelligence for friendship, advice, and to avoid having to think about different things. These admissions are in line with what experts are observing and the few studies that have been undertaken on the subject.
15-year old Kayla Chege, a high schooler in Kansas, is an example of those who revealed the different reasons for which they use AI tools. She says that she uses ChatGPT to get advice on a variety of issues, such as low-calorie food choices, make-up colors, birthday party ideas and back-to-school shopping.
The teen adds that she deliberately avoids using AI while doing her homework. However, many other teens report using these tools while doing their school work, such as homework. They use AI to plan or write their essays, for example.
While many concerns have been expressed by experts regarding the ways in which students use AI to cheat during their academic journey, recent information is showing that teens are resorting to AI for more than just their academics. Teens say AI has become their de facto source of companionship, problem-solving, friendship, decision-making on daily concerns, and for personal advice.
A recent study undertaken by Common Sense Media found that at least 70% of all teens use artificial intelligence companions, and a large fraction of teens use these companions regularly. According to this study, AI companions refer to platforms that provide “digital friends” to users. These platforms include Replika and Character.AI. Users can customize those characters so that they have specific personality traits in order to conduct lifelike conversations.
However, chatbots like Claude and ChatGPT are also being leveraged for the same purposes as AI companions, according to researchers.
Experts and teens are increasingly worried that as AI tools become more pervasive and highly sophisticated, human relationships could get compromised, mental health could deteriorate and the loneliness crisis could worsen.
These concerns aren’t farfetched given recent incidents that highlight the potential harms of AI. For example, a Florida boy aged 14 died by suicide after getting entangled emotionally with an AI chatbot.
It is also concerning that teens are increasingly turning to AI at a stage in their life when they need to develop crucial skills like detecting social cues, being challenged and understanding the viewpoints of others that don’t necessarily rhyme with their own. By resorting to AI, teens are unable to learn important life skills that could set them up for success in the real world.
More studies are being conducted to fill the knowledge gaps on how teens and other members of the community are using AI, and its potential long term effects. That said, the growing use of AI shows why various tech companies like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) are racing to build new data center capacity in order to meet the exploding demand for cloud services in the era of AI.
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