Sharing – Why Young People are Using AI for Emotional Support

It turns out that young people aren’t just being silly when they use AI to help with their mental health. They get real benefits from it, despite all the risks that come along with those benefits:

For me, and the authors of the report, the bigger picture is this: kids are getting something real out of AI. That’s not nothing, and I don’t want to pretend otherwise. While it’s hard to accept, it is a reality that’s here with us today and we need to have a plan on what to do with it.

https://mentalhealth411.substack.com/p/why-young-people-are-using-ai-for

The Hopelab report shares six things young people get from AI, and the real question I have is why these things aren’t available to them elsewhere?

They want straight answers; they want to be assured of privacy; they don’t want to be a burden; they want someone instantly available; they want to be understood; and they want a neutral party.

Some of those wants can be a little difficult to get from people, and in some ways we will never be as available as a chatbot is, or always able to be neutral, but surely we can be better than we are now, no?

Of course, there are risks, well-documented by the author of the link above, but we’d be silly to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that the appeal of AI chatbots for many is baseless. It has benefits that many people see.