29 artifacts matching
Artificial intelligence (AI) psychosis: mechanisms, clinical risks and safety considerations in generative AI chatbots
A commentary in BJPsych Open synthesizing emerging case reports of 'AI psychosis', in which intensive generative AI chatbot use is associated with delusional thinking. The authors propose a provisional mechanism in which baseline user vulnerabilities (loneliness, psychosocial stress, low AI literacy) and high-intensity engagement interact with AI system characteristics such as sycophancy and hallucination to reinforce delusional ideation. It outlines clinical, design, and regulatory mitigation strategies.
When AI becomes a friend: Child rights risks, harms, and regulatory responses to AI chatbots and companions
A UNICEF policy brief examining how AI chatbots and companions bear on children's rights, comparing regulatory responses across six jurisdictions (as of May 2026) and setting out priority safeguarding, accountability, and oversight actions. It groups harms as technical, psychological, developmental, and social.
AI Chatbot Use and Disclosure for Mental Health Among US Adolescents and Young Adults
Cross-sectional, nationally representative survey (RAND American Life Panel, November 2025) of US youth aged 12-21 measuring prevalence and disclosure of using AI chatbots for mental-health advice. Reports that 19.2% of adolescents and young adults (about 8.2 million nationally) used AI chatbots for mental-health advice in 2025, up from roughly 13.1% a year earlier.
IA conversationnelle et santé mentale des jeunes : résultats de l'enquête européenne (AI*me)
A survey (AI*me) commissioned by France's data-protection regulator CNIL with Groupe VYV and fielded by Ipsos BVA, covering 3,800 young people aged 11-25 across France, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland on conversational-AI use and mental health. It reports how young people use conversational AI for personal and emotional support.
Persona-Grounded Safety Evaluation of AI Companions in Multi-Turn Conversations
Presents an end-to-end simulation framework for evaluating AI companion app safety across multi-turn conversations, using nine clinically-grounded vulnerable personas (including major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, PTSD, and eating disorders) probed against Replika, with validation against Character.AI. The study analyzes 1,674 simulated dialogue pairs across 25 high-risk scenarios.
Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narratives
Qualitative analysis of 318 Reddit posts from teenagers (13-17) about dependency on AI companion chatbots, mapped onto behavioral-addiction frameworks. Characterises the trajectories and drivers of teen overreliance.
GrandGuard: Taxonomy, Benchmark, and Safeguards for Elderly-Chatbot Interaction Safety
Introduces a taxonomy of elderly-specific risks in LLM chatbot interactions (3 levels, 50 fine-grained risk types across mental well-being, financial, medical, toxicity, and privacy domains) grounded in real-world incidents and stakeholder studies, plus a benchmark of 10,404 labeled prompts and responses. Reports that several leading LLMs mishandle elderly-specific contextual risks in over half of tested cases, and proposes two safeguard models to mitigate the failures.
AI companions and subjective well-being: Moderation by social connectedness and loneliness
Analyses cross-sectional data from 14,721 Japanese adults (nationwide internet panels, December 2024-January 2025) on AI-companion use and subjective well-being. Finds the positive association is strongest among highly lonely users, with a U-shaped moderation by friend-based social support.
How Teens Use and View AI
Nationally representative survey of 1,458 US teens (13-17) and their parents on awareness, use, and attitudes toward AI, including chatbot use for conversation and emotional support. Reports adoption patterns and parental comfort levels across use cases.
Assessing LLM Response Quality in the Context of Technology-Facilitated Abuse
An expert-led evaluation of four large language models — two general-purpose and two domain-specific for intimate partner violence contexts — responding to real-world questions about technology-facilitated abuse (TFA), including digital surveillance, stalking, and coercive control. Experts scored responses on accuracy, completeness, safety, and actionability; a separate study with 114 TFA survivors assessed the perceived actionability of the same outputs.
Delusional Experiences Emerging From AI Chatbot Interactions or "AI Psychosis"
A peer-reviewed psychiatric commentary in JMIR Mental Health analyzing delusional experiences that emerge from AI chatbot use, sometimes termed 'AI psychosis.' It argues psychiatry must reconsider the boundaries between environment, cognition, and technology.
AI Chatbots for Mental Health Support (AI Risk Assessment)
A risk assessment by Common Sense Media's Youth AI Safety Institute, conducted with Stanford Medicine's Brainstorm Lab for Mental Health Innovation, evaluating ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Meta AI as sources of teen mental health support. Using teen test accounts with single-turn prompts and extended conversations, the assessment found the chatbots consistently failed to recognize conditions including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, mania, and psychosis, and that safety guardrails degraded over long conversations. It assigns an overall rating of 'Unacceptable Risk' and concludes teens should not use general-purpose AI chatbots for mental health or emotional support.
AI-induced sexual harassment: Investigating Contextual Characteristics and User Reactions of Sexual Harassment by a Companion Chatbot
Thematic analysis of 800 cases of AI-perpetrated sexual conduct identified within 35,105 negative Google Play Store reviews of the Replika companion app. The study characterizes the contextual patterns of unwanted sexual advances initiated by the chatbot itself and documents users' reactions, distinguishing this from user-initiated sexual content.
Hand in Hand: Schools' Embrace of AI Connected to Increased Risks to Students
A US polling report from CDT surveying high-school students, teachers, and parents on AI use in K-12 education. It links greater classroom AI adoption to students turning to AI for companionship, mental-health support, and romantic relationships.
Guidelines on prohibited artificial intelligence practices established by Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act)
Non-binding European Commission guidance (reference C(2025) 5052 final) interpreting the AI Act's Article 5 prohibited-practices provisions, including manipulative/deceptive techniques and exploitation of vulnerabilities of specific groups. The document includes worked examples specific to conversational and companion AI systems to illustrate how the prohibitions apply.
Understanding Teen Overreliance on AI Companion Chatbots Through Self-Reported Reddit Narratives
A qualitative study of 318 Reddit posts by adolescents aged 13-17 describing their own overreliance on AI companion chatbots (e.g., Character.AI). It traces a trajectory from use for support or creative play into attachment patterns resembling behavioral addiction, including withdrawal symptoms and mood-regulation dependence, with documented harms to sleep, academics, and offline relationships. The authors propose the CARE framework to guide safer companion-chatbot design for teens.
Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions
A nationally representative survey study of how US teenagers use social AI companion platforms. Common Sense Media surveyed 1,060 teens aged 13-17 in April-May 2025 and found that 72% have used AI companions at least once and about half use them regularly. A third of teens reported choosing AI companions over humans for serious conversations, and a quarter have shared personal information with these platforms. The report concludes that AI companions in their current form are unsuitable for minors and recommends no one under 18 use them.
Me, Myself & AI: Understanding and Safeguarding Children's Use of AI Chatbots
A UK mixed-methods study of children's use of AI chatbots, combining a survey of children and parents, focus groups with 13-17-year-olds, and 17-day user-testing of ChatGPT, Snapchat My AI, and Character.AI using child avatars. It documents usage patterns, advice-seeking, companionship, and safety gaps.
How people use Claude for support, advice, and companionship
Anthropic's first large-scale study of 'affective use' of Claude, analyzing how people turn to the model for emotional support, advice, and companionship. Using the privacy-preserving Clio analysis tool over roughly 4.5 million Claude.ai Free and Pro conversations, the study isolates 131,484 affective conversations spanning interpersonal advice, coaching, counseling, companionship, and roleplay. It reports prevalence, topic patterns, refusal behavior, and within-conversation sentiment trajectories.
Sexual Extortion & Young People: Navigating Threats in Digital Environments
Survey of 1,200 US young people aged 13-20 (fielded September-October 2024, following expert interviews) on lived experience of sextortion, including the role of deepfake and AI-generated imagery. Documents prevalence, disproportionate impact on LGBTQ+ youth, and self-harm outcomes.