About 12 percent of U.S. teenagers say they use AI chatbots for emotional support or advice, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Sixteen percent use AI for casual conversation, while the most common uses remain information searches and schoolwork. Parents are far less comfortable with chatbots occupying an emotional role, and mental health professionals warn that general-purpose systems were not designed for it, TechCrunch reported on February 25th.

The private chat has become a room a teenager can enter without asking a friend, parent, or counselor to stay awake. The system answers immediately, absorbs the confession, and presents a tone that can be mistaken for attention. That availability can feel like care while removing the friction through which another person notices confusion, contradiction, or danger. The survey also shows a gap between what parents think their children do with AI and what teenagers report themselves. The device remains in the bedroom, outside the adult's view, while the model occupies the chair where a listener might have sat. A screen designed to answer questions is now being asked to receive a life.