The Verge: The teens making friends with AI chatbots
UC expert says teens can find solace communicating with AI bots, but there are dangers
The social strata of the teenage years can be difficult to navigate, so some teens are turning to AI chatbots for interaction and advice. In an article by The Verge, reprinted in summary on Yahoo!tech, reporters interviewed teens who use Character.AI instead of looking to human friends and/or therapists for answers.
According to the article, Character.AI/Psychologist is one of the most popular on the platform and has received more than 95 million messages since it was created. The bot frequently tries to help users engage in CBT — “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy,” a talking therapy that helps people manage problems by changing the way they think.
The reporters also signed up for the service, creating hypothetical teen scenarios, which they say led the bot to make mental health diagnosis and potentially damaging inferences (i.e., childhood trauma).
The teens interviewed gave a more positive assessment: “It’s not like a journal, where you’re talking to a brick wall,” said one teenage user.
Right now, [chatbots] still get a lot of things wrong.
Kelly Merrill Assistant professor of health communications and technology
Kelly Merrill, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati who studies the mental and social health benefits of communication technologies, told The Verge: “Extensive research has been conducted on AI chatbots that provide mental health support, and the results are largely positive.”
The research, he says, shows that chatbots can aid in lessening feelings of depression, anxiety, and even stress.
But, Merrill says in the article, “it’s important to note that many of these chatbots have not been around for long periods of time, and they are limited in what they can do.”
These bots, he says, still get a lot of things wrong. “Those that don’t have the AI literacy to understand the limitations of these systems will ultimately pay the price.”
Read the original Verge article.
Featured image at top of AI chat use. Photo/iStock/hirun.
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