August 13, 2026 Teens are turning to AI chatbots for emotional support—here's how to keep kids safe by Phoebe S. Moore, Megan Kelly, Yael Dvir, The Conversation edited by Lisa Lock, reviewed by Alexander Pol Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Meet our editorial team Behind our editorial process Alexander Pol Deputy Editor Meet our editorial team Behind our editorial process Editors' notes This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source written by researcher(s) proofread The GIST Add as preferred source a.m., and a teenage girl, worrying about an issue with a friend, lies awake.
Rather than wake her parents, she picks up her phone, opens an AI app and types, "I'm so stressed out, I can't sleep." A reply arrives swiftly: "I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Want to tell me a bit about what is stressing you?" The conversation unfolds, and 20 minutes later she is calmer and able to sleep. The supportive voice that calmed her?
A large language model, or LLM, chatbot. While this is a hypothetical scenario, it represents a very common pattern of artificial intelligence use by teens. Many teens are turning to AI chatbots, which are designed to simulate empathy and maintain human engagement, for companionship, emotional support and mental health advice.
Research shows that this is increasingly common, with 72% of teens having interacted with AI companion chatbots, and 13% to 20% having sought support through AI for emotional concerns in a two-month period in 2025. In another recent study, 63% of the teens and young adults who used an AI chatbot for mental health advice had not disclosed it to anyone. As clinical psychologists and a child psychiatrist who work with adolescents, we've seen this shift firsthand.
In 2025, we published guidelines for clinicians on how to address teen chatbot use safety, and we're now working to help parents and other trusted adults do the same. Why teens are vulnerable Unlike social media platforms, which connect teens with peers, AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini function as simulated conversation partners and companions, offering on-demand responses that can feel supportive and engaging. While a small number of purpose-built therapeutic chatbots have been studied in controlled settings, most teens are using general-purpose tools that were never designed or validated for mental health support.
This includes stand-alone platforms such as ChatGPT and chatbots built into apps that teens already use, such as Snapchat's My AI. These chatbots are everywhere, highly accessible and difficult for teens to avoid. Teens often describe chatbot interactions as emotionally meaningful or supportive, sometimes even preferring chatbot conversations to talking with friends.
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