Imagine a child returning from school burdened with an embarrassing situation, or a teenager trying to understand feelings he doesn't know how to explain to his family, and instead of knocking on his parents' bedroom door, he opens the chat window on his phone and types his question to an artificial intelligence robot.
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The answer comes quickly, in a calm language that does not sound judgmental or sarcastic, and it may invite him to continue talking. For him, this conversation may be easier than facing someone he knows, but it opens up a question that goes beyond technology: What happens when a machine becomes a destination for children’s emotional expression? And what does that reveal about their needs and human relationships?
Today, generative artificial intelligence tools are no longer limited to explaining assignments or summarizing lessons. Some children and teenagers use them to ask for advice, discuss personal problems, and seek companionship. Describing them as artificial tutors does not mean that they possess a human understanding of the child's feelings, but rather indicates a role that the user may give them with repeated conversations and trust in their answers, which raises questions about the limits of this relationship and its impact on psychological and social development.
It examined the use of chatbots by 1,599 students from 15 high schools in Denmark and found that 2.44% of participants had social conversations or sought emotional support from the bots. This group reported higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of perceived social support compared to some of their peers. The study does not determine the direction of the relationship; lonely young people may turn to bots for support, and the results do not prove that the use of these tools caused their isolation.
In a survey published by the American Common Sense Media Center in July 2025, which included 1,060 teenagers aged between 13 and 17, about three-quarters of the participants said they had tried artificial intelligence companions, a third of them chose these tools instead of humans in serious conversations, and a quarter of them reported sharing personal information with them.
Why might confiding in a machine be easier?
A child may not prefer the machine over their parents in everything, but they may find in digital conversation characteristics that make disclosure less embarrassing, such as ease of access, speed of response, and not having to face a direct reaction, as well as using language that seems acceptable and does not carry apparent blame. A teenager who is afraid of being misunderstood, or being punished for what they say, or who does not know how to start a sensitive conversation with someone close to them, may resort to it.
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