Politico March 6, 2025
Lawmakers have struggled for years to address the risks of social media for kids, largely without success. Now AI chatbots have arrived on the scene, raising a host of new potential issues.
Researchers who have closely followed social media’s impact on youth mental health are worried that relational chatbots—the ones that provide companionship—are just as likely to addict kids. In fact they worry that bots, with their eerily human responses and warm conversational style, could be even more magnetic than current platforms.
“It could do what’s very addictive in the research on romantic relationships and heartbreak,” said Jodi Halpern, who teaches bioethics and medical humanities at the University of California Berkeley. “It could not call you for a little while...
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