A new study by Common Sense Media reveals many younger teens have turned to artificial intelligence for companionship. Jim Steyer, the nonprofit's founder and CEO, joins to discuss.

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The release of Open AI's ChatGPT has accelerated the development of artificial intelligence and warnings about its impact on society.

Rise of AI

A recent study by Common Sense Media has found that a significant number of teenagers are turning to AI companions for support, with over 70 percent of surveyed teens having used such technology. Many young users reportedly trust these AI systems as friends, parents, or therapists, often discussing serious personal issues with them.

Experts, including Common Sense Media's CEO Jim Steyer, have expressed concern about the potential mental health impacts, particularly for younger teens who may become overly reliant on AI interactions. While some see potential benefits for isolated youth, there are calls for stricter age restrictions, improved age verification, and comprehensive risk assessments to ensure the safe use of AI companions by minors.

Inside the debate over teens using AI companions for support

At the White House today, President Trump unveiled what's being called his AI action plan. The orders are meant to give developers the ability to expand the technology by limiting government guardrails. A new study by Common Sense Media offers some insight into a particularly sensitive way AI is being used by teens. The study reveals many teenagers have turned to AI for companionship. For tonight's interview, we are joined by the nonprofit's founder and CEO, Jim Steyer. Jim, thanks so much for joining us. What struck you about this study? Well, what struck me about this study is that AI companions are now everywhere in teens' lives. Literally, John, three out of 14, 72 percent have used AI companions, and more than half of them use them pretty regularly. And so that's really a big issue. And the thing that we also found in the research is that younger kids really trust these AI companions to be like friends or parents or therapists. They're talking about serious relationship issues. And these are robots. These are not human beings. Right. Is that, and maybe the study doesn't get into this, but is this a challenge for the way kids live today, or is this a challenge with the technology? I think it's really a challenge with both, actually, John. Good question. I'd say, first of all, it's a challenge with how kids live today because they spend so many hours in front of a screen. And when you substitute a machine or a robot for a human being and human interaction, you're fundamentally changing the nature of that relationship. I also think it's an extraordinary challenge to the new AI industry, which, of course, Common Sense Media supports the growth and innovation in. But in terms of its impact on young people and on families in general, this is an extraordinary finding and one that I think makes us very concerned about kids under the age of 18 being exposed to these kind of companions. And I want to get to some of your thoughts about what the best ways might be to put some guardrails up. But let's take the counter case. You're a lonely kid. You don't have access to the kinds of help. And this might be a place where you can find some solace or, I guess I saw that 11 percent of the of the found in the study that 11 percent used an AI companion to to build up their self, their courage and their and to stand up for themselves. Why isn't that a good thing? I think it can be, John. That's a good point. But I think in general that the problem is when it becomes a substitute for other kind of normal friends and peer relationships, parents and teachers and other kind of relationships. So I do agree with you that in limited circumstances, they can probably be a benefit. But if you listen to the words of folks like Mark Zuckerberg, they're saying, hey, now that we helped create the loneliness crisis, we're going to solve it with robots and machines, which is just absurd on its face. So I really think that there are examples where it could possibly be a positive thing. But the problem, particularly with younger teens, is they can become addicted to these and suffer very serious mental health issues. There have been examples of suicides that have been widely publicized. So this is a really troubling area, I think, for any parent, any educator and, quite frankly, any young person. So, Jim, let's get right to what you think some possible good guardrails would be for the development of AI. OK, I mean, on these, I'd say nobody under 18 should be using a an AI companion, period. And you know, as John and we've worked with you before on this, we believe in passing laws like the privacy laws we've done in California and New York. We think there are major restrictions and guardrails, as you said, that should be put on the AI platforms. They include the age restrictions. Also, age verification is a big issue. I mean, for parents like you and me, you know that kids often lie about their age. So you want to be able to know what kind of platforms young people can be on. So we need clear restrictions on the usage of these AI companions. And more broadly, we need to have risk assessment for AI.

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Inside the debate over teens using AI companions for support

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