Youth, AI, and the Relationships That Shape Them

Key Findings

• — Four clusters: 28% use AI infrequently or never, 39% for information and tasks, 18% for personal and relational support, 15% talk to AI characters
• — In the AI-characters cluster, 52% are daily users and 83% use AI weekly; 49% turn to AI more than people at least sometimes (vs 18% in other clusters), 51% feel there is no one to turn to, and 55% report the urge to use AI more and more
• — The AI-characters cluster is more likely to be male (61% vs 49% of the sample) and Black (19% vs 13%), is not especially socially isolated (56% report three or more close friends), yet reports worse well-being than the information and support clusters
• — The non-user cluster reports the highest levels of anxiety, loneliness and isolation and is more likely to be lower-income and aged 19 and over
• — Sample of 2,383 aged 13-24 (79% aged 13-18 by design), fielded by YouGov in November 2025 and weighted on age, gender, race and geography; the authors describe the findings as early and exploratory

Methodology Notes

Report cover dated March 2026 (month precision, day set to 01); the hosted PDF was regenerated 2026-07-14 (PDF creation date) without a stated change. Funded by the Walton Family Foundation; YouGov fielded the survey and co-analysed the clusters; in-depth interviews conducted with In Tandem. The website says 2,400 respondents while the report says 2,383 (the report is used). The report is hosted only on Google Drive behind a bit.ly link from the project's research page, so the Drive file and the research page are both recorded. Cluster membership is derived from self-reported usage; well-being measures are single-item self-reports. Curator read the PDF (47 pages).

Sources