AI companions are becoming part of some teenagers’ online lives. Young people may use chatbots for friendship, advice, entertainment or emotional support. Some platforms also let users create or interact with characters that act like romantic partners.
This can lead some teenagers to form personal or emotional connections with chatbots, even though they are interacting with software. This has raised concerns about age limits, sexual content, privacy, emotional dependence and harmful advice.
Researchers and regulators are paying increasing attention to the issue. A 2026 study published in the Journal of Adolescence surveyed 3,466 U.S. teenagers aged 13 to 17 and found that more than 60% had used a conversational AI chatbot. A separate 2026 survey by Australia’s eSafety Commissioner found that 8% of children aged 10 to 17 had used an AI companion.
This does not mean that every teenager who uses an AI companion will be harmed. However, research shows that some young users are already experiencing problematic interactions. This has raised questions about whether current safety measures are strong enough to protect teenagers.
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Teenagers Are Already Using AI Companions
AI companions are different from regular AI assistants because they are built to create an ongoing relationship with users. Instead of only answering questions, these chatbots can remember past conversations, have a specific personality and respond like a friend, mentor or romantic partner.
Some platforms also let users create their own characters and continue conversations with them over a long period. Research shows that teenagers are using these systems for different reasons.
Common Sense Media’s 2025 research found that nearly three out of four U.S. teenagers had used AI companions at least once, while about half said they used them regularly. Entertainment and curiosity were among the main reasons for using them. However, many teenagers also used AI companions for social interaction.
More recent research comes from a 2026 study published in the Journal of Adolescence. The study surveyed 3,466 U.S. teenagers and found that more than 60% had used conversational AI. About 60.1% said they used chatbots for friendship, while 65.6% used them for advice.
It is important to note that this study looked at conversational AI in general, not specifically AI girlfriend or boyfriend apps. Therefore, these numbers do not mean that 60% of teenagers have an AI romantic partner.
AI Chatbots Are Becoming a Source of Support for Teens
One growing concern is that teenagers may turn to AI when they need someone to talk to about personal or emotional issues.
Common Sense Media found that one in three teen AI companion users had used an AI companion instead of a real person for an important or serious conversation. About one in four had also shared personal information with an AI companion.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner reported similar behavior in its 2026 research. Among children who had used AI assistants or companions, 54% said they had used them for personal or social reasons. This included asking for advice, talking about feelings or problems, getting mental-health or wellbeing advice, and chatting about their interests.
This can be a concern because teenagers may see a chatbot as a source of emotional support, even though it does not understand situations in the same way a person does and is not a trained mental-health professional.
AI chatbots can give responses that sound caring and understanding, but they do not actually experience emotions or fully understand what a teenager is going through. They can also provide incorrect, inappropriate or potentially harmful advice while presenting it in a confident and reassuring way.
Some Teens Are Forming Emotional Bonds With AI
AI companions are designed to make conversations feel personal and engaging. They can respond instantly, remember details from earlier conversations, show emotions through their responses and continue talking with users over long periods.
For a teenager who feels lonely or isolated, talking to a chatbot may sometimes feel easier than talking to another person. The chatbot is always available and does not respond with the same social reactions that can occur in human conversations.
Common Sense Media found that 31% of teens said conversations with AI companions were as satisfying as or more satisfying than conversations with real-life friends. However, 80% of AI companion users said they still spent more time with real friends than with AI companions.
These findings suggest that AI companions are not simply replacing human relationships. For some teenagers, they may be another form of entertainment or a convenient way to have a conversation. For others, frequent interactions with a chatbot could become an important source of emotional support.
Because of this, researchers are looking at whether heavy or repeated use could lead to emotional dependence on AI companions or make some young people less likely to seek support from family, friends or other people they trust.
Teens Report Harmful and Uncomfortable AI Interactions
The 2026 Journal of Adolescence study provides recent data on the problems teenagers can encounter when using conversational AI. The study surveyed 3,466 U.S. teenagers aged 13 to 17.
| Reported AI Interaction | Teens who experienced it |
| Chatbot asked for uncomfortable personal information | 32.3% |
| Felt manipulated or pressured by a chatbot | 23.1% |
| Received false information | 17.1% |
| Chatbot encouraged unethical or illegal behavior | 18.7% |
| Chatbot encouraged risky behavior | 15.2% |
| Encountered self-harm messages | 14.7% |
| Encountered suicidal messages | 13.0% |
Source: Journal of Adolescence
Overall, 47.1% of the teenagers reported experiencing at least one of the specific risks or harmful interactions examined in the study. These findings need some context. The study looked at conversational AI in general, rather than only AI girlfriend or AI companion apps. The results also come from teenagers reporting their own experiences.
AI Companions Raise Concerns About Sexual Content
Sexual content is one of the key safety concerns for teenagers who use AI companions. Some companion platforms allow users to create fictional characters and take part in roleplay conversations. Without strong age checks and content limits, these features can expose minors to sexual conversations or other inappropriate material.
Common Sense Media reported that its testing of social AI companions found inappropriate conversations and sexual content that could be accessed by young users. The organization also identified issues involving platforms that had additional safety measures intended for teenagers.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has also examined AI companion services because of concerns about risks to children. Its broader 2026 research found that one in five children who had used an AI assistant or companion had experienced a potentially inappropriate or harmful interaction.
This highlights a challenge for AI companies. Platforms need to identify whether a user is a child or an adult and then apply age-appropriate safety rules. They also need to prevent chatbots from producing sexual or other inappropriate content even when users try to steer conversations in that direction.
Age Restrictions Can Be Difficult to Enforce
Many AI companion services have age restrictions, but age verification remains a major issue. A teenager may be able to enter an older birth date when creating an account if a platform relies primarily on self-declared age.
This creates a gap between the platform’s official age policy and the age of its actual users. The problem becomes more complicated when companies offer different safety settings for adults and teenagers.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission began an inquiry in September 2025 into how seven companies operate AI chatbots that can act as companions. The companies included Alphabet, Character Technologies, Meta, OpenAI, Snap and xAI. The FTC asked how these companies test and monitor potential negative effects on children and teenagers, enforce age restrictions, handle personal information and assess the effects of companion-style interactions.
The inquiry shows that regulators are examining the design and business practices behind these systems, rather than looking only at individual chatbot conversations.
Teens May Share Sensitive Information With AI Companions
Teenagers may share personal information with an AI companion that they would not normally share publicly or even with other people.
Conversations with AI companions can include details about relationships, family problems, school, fears, sexuality and emotional struggles. Because chatbots are available at any time and often respond in a friendly way, some young users may feel comfortable sharing sensitive information with them.
The 2026 eSafety survey found that about 32% of children who had used AI assistants or companions had shared personal or potentially sensitive information with them. The 2026 Journal of Adolescence study found a similar concern. About 32.3% of teenagers said a conversational AI system had asked them for personal information that made them uncomfortable.
This raise questions about how companies handle conversations with young users. Key concerns include what data is collected, how long it is stored, how it is used and whether teenagers understand what may happen to the information they share.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also examined this issue in its 2025 inquiry, which included questions about how companies collect and use personal information from chatbot conversations.
When AI Relationships Start to Feel Personal
An AI girlfriend or boyfriend is not a human relationship, but companion systems can be designed to make the interaction feel like one.
The chatbot may express affection, remember personal details, respond to messages immediately and maintain a consistent personality. For a teenager, especially one who is still developing social and emotional skills, repeated interaction can make the distinction between a simulated relationship and a human relationship less obvious.
This does not mean teenagers cannot understand that a chatbot is artificial. Rather, the concern is that knowing something is artificial does not necessarily prevent a person from becoming emotionally attached to it. That distinction is central to current research into AI companions.
The Main AI Safety Concerns for Teenagers
As more teenagers use AI companions and conversational chatbots, researchers and regulators are focusing on several areas of safety. The main concerns include:
- Age assurance: AI platforms need reliable methods to identify whether a user is a child or an adult. This can help companies apply stronger protections to younger users.
- Content controls: Platforms need safeguards that prevent minors from receiving sexual, violent or otherwise inappropriate content.
- Emotional safety: Researchers are examining whether chatbot responses could encourage unhealthy levels of emotional dependence or reduce a teenager’s willingness to seek support from people in their real life.
- Privacy: Teenagers may share personal and sensitive information during conversations with AI. Companies need to clearly explain what information they collect, how it is used and how long it is stored.
- Crisis responses: AI systems need stronger safeguards for conversations involving self-harm, suicide or other serious situations. These systems should be able to respond safely and direct users toward appropriate human support.
- Ongoing monitoring: AI safety cannot end when a chatbot is launched. Companies need to continue testing and monitoring their systems because harmful responses or unexpected risks can appear during real-world use.
The 2026 Journal of Adolescence researchers specifically called for adaptive safety features and ongoing monitoring systems to protect young users.
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The Long-Term Effects of AI Companions Remain Unclear
AI companions are still a relatively new technology, so researchers do not yet have enough long-term evidence to fully understand how they may affect teenagers.
Current studies show that young people are already using conversational AI for friendship, advice, entertainment and emotional conversations. Research has also documented concerns such as manipulation, privacy risks, inappropriate content, misinformation and exposure to harmful messages.
However, these findings do not prove that using AI companions will automatically cause emotional dependence or replace human relationships. The effects may also vary depending on how often teenagers use these systems, why they use them and how the platforms are designed.
For now, one of the main questions is whether AI companion platforms can provide strong enough protections for teenagers as the technology continues to develop and gain users.
As AI companions become more personalized and better at maintaining long-term conversations, age verification, privacy protection, content controls and emotional safety are likely to remain important areas of research and regulation.
