For years, parents worried about what children were doing online. The next question is increasingly about who they are talking to.
Pew Research Center reported in 2026 that 12% of U.S. teenagers had used chatbots for emotional support or advice. More than half had used chatbots for schoolwork.
The research is a signal—not a verdict
A 2026 JAMA Pediatrics study examined nearly 40,000 Canadian students in grades 4 through 12. More than one in five reported using generative AI for affective purposes, including emotional support or advice. Among those students, approximately 58% had emotional-problem scores above a clinical threshold compared with 29% among students who did not report this type of AI use.
The observational study cannot establish that AI caused emotional problems. Young people experiencing emotional difficulties may be more likely to turn to AI.
Social skills are practiced, not downloaded
Children develop social abilities through experience: disagreeing without cruelty, apologizing, negotiating, reading cues, tolerating awkwardness, repairing relationships and asking for help.
Teach AI literacy and emotional literacy together
The goal should not be to make AI forbidden. The better goal is to teach young people how to use it without outsourcing their humanity. That means pairing digital intelligence with social intelligence, critical thinking with empathy, and technology skills with relationship skills.
Human Impact Takeaway
The most important AI skill a young person can learn may sometimes be knowing when to put the machine down and talk to a person.
Sources: Pew Research Center, 2026; JAMA Pediatrics, 2026; American Psychological Association.
