The diary is the past! Today some teenagers prefer chatbots.
Common Sense carried out an edifying survey of adolescents on their relations to conversational agents (chatbot) and AI.
First figures: 72% of teenagers know generative AI and 52% use it regularly.
A better than a human?
The survey was carried out with 1,060 people aged 13 to 17. Many of them use platforms such as: chai, character.ai, nomi and folderika.
About a third of respondents who used the IA companions say they have done it for social interactions.
In addition, one in five declares that they have consulted one to train in social life or conversation. And more than one in ten turned to this technology to get mental health advice or emotional support.
For example, 18 % of adolescents interviewed speak to robots because they “give them advice”. 17% claim that AI is “always available” to listen to them.
And, 14% claim to count on AI because they “do not judge them”. 12% say they are at ease to tell robots things that they would not say to a friend or a family member.
In addition, about one in three teenagers declares that the time spent with the chatbot is more satisfactory than with real friends. About a third of them have chosen to talk to the AI of important or serious subjects rather than turning to a real person.
Chatbot – figures that arrest
Half of adolescents (50 %) express distrust of information or advice provided by AI, although the levels of trust vary depending on the age.
The other half (50 %) gives fairly significant confidence to the information provided by the AI.
Among them, 23 % make them “enough” or “totally” confidence. Young adolescents (13-14 years old) are much more likely than the oldest (15-17 years) to trust the advice of an AI (27 % against 20 %).
Advice for teachers and parents
Common Sense does not lend to alarm but to empower.
Faced with these figures, Common Sense issues recommendations for adults: teachers, caregivers and parents.
It is necessary to explain with calm and without mockery, that the AI are designed to “create an emotional attachment” with the users and explain how this type of interaction is different from the way the real humans communicate.
The organization also suggests that teachers train students to be attentive to the comrades who speak of AI assistants as if they were real friends.
She also suggests that adults tell teens to alert if they notice social distress when chatbots are unavailable.
Teachers should also help students understand the disadvantages of the disclosure of private information to AI tools. The full study is here.
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