Would you trust an AI chatbot to be your therapist, medical professional or confidante? New research shows that one in five American adolescents between the ages of 12-21 – or around 8.2 million – are turning to Big AI’s chatbots for help with their mental health.
That marks a more than 40 percent increase in the past year, rising from just one in eight the previous year, a 1,009-person survey from the non-profit research institute RAND found.
The findings may not come as that much of a shock following the rise of chatbot use in schools and data showing that nearly half of U.S. teens used the platform multiple times each month.
Still, they raise many questions about the impact of asking AI for mental health guidance.
Mental health among U.S. teenagers has been at crisis levels in recent years, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for that age group, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
AI chatbots have also been involved in investigations of the deaths of several U.S. teenagers who died by suicide, according to reports.
It’s unclear exactly what America’s teens are asking and saying to the chatbots as that was not included in the survey.
The researchers did find that use was more common among females than males and among college-aged young adults than teens under the age of 17. Teen girls have worse mental health than their male counterparts, according to UCLA Health.
Those who had spoken with a doctor about their mental health were also more likely to report using AI chatbots for mental health advice. That may suggest an ongoing need for care not met with traditional models — or a model that’s not fully utilized.
But it’s not just the use of the chatbots for mental health advice that’s concerning to researchers.
It’s the fact that teens aren’t telling anyone they’re using AI chatbots for mental health advice.
“AI chatbots are already part of how many young people seek advice about their mental health,” Ryan McBain, a senior policy researcher at RAND and lead author of the study, explained in a Monday release. “The speed of growth is attention-grabbing, but so is the fact that most young people who use these tools for mental health advice say they are not telling anyone.”
Around two-thirds of the group said they had not told anyone about that use, even though nearly 43 percent said it was at least monthly.
And, while 92 percent of those surveyed said they thought the chatbots’ advice was very helpful, the researchers said that might reflect a previously identified tendency for chatbots to flatter their users.
“By default, AI advice does not tell people that they’re wrong nor give them ‘tough love,’” Myra Cheng, a computer science Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University, said in a statement earlier this year.
“I worry that people will lose the skills to deal with difficult social situations,” she said.
For teenagers, whose brains are still developing, social skills are crucial for a healthy life.
That’s part of why parents and others should help guide their teenagers’ use of the platforms, the researchers who conducted the new study say.
Parents should talk to their teens about what data chatbots may store in their interactions, ask about how they use the chatbots, set rules together and take note of if chatbots are replacing real life, the American Psychological Association advises.
“Know when to get help. AI can’t handle crises. Get professional support when needed,” it instructs.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. In the UK, people having mental health crises can contact the Samaritans at 116 123 or [email protected]
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