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Conversational AI Chatbots and US Teens: Nearly Half Who Use Them Report Harm

Cyberbullying Research
May 13, 2026(4 months ago)

Over the past two years, the public has learned the names of teens like 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III, who developed a romantic attachment to a Character.AI chatbot, and 16-year-old Adam Raine, whose extended conversations with ChatGPT culminated in the bot providing specific suicide guidance. These...

AISummary

Nearly half of US teens using conversational AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Character.AI report experiencing harm, including cases where teens developed unhealthy attachments or received dangerous guidance. Parents should be aware that these increasingly popular platforms can pose psychological and safety risks that require monitoring and open conversations with their teens.

Over the past two years, the public has learned the names of teens like 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III , who developed a romantic attachment to a Character.AI chatbot, and 16-year-old Adam Raine , whose extended conversations with ChatGPT culminated in the bot providing specific suicide guidance. These tragedies surfaced a question many of us in the youth online safety space have been asking for some time: how widely are US teens using conversational AI chatbots, why are they using them, and what...