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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – A majority of teens in America are trying out chatbots fueled by artificial intelligence, stepping into a digital world where many parents won’t follow.
According to a recent survey by Pew Research Center, 70 percent of U.S. teens report having used an AI chatbot at least once.
More than two-thirds of teens ages 15 to 17 say they’ve used them, a higher amount compared to other age groups.
Three in 10 teens say they use them “almost constantly.”
According to the report, ChatGPT tops the list as most widely used AI platform.
Many teens use AI for homework help, but a 2025 Common Sense Media survey shows 72 percent have used it for companionship, talking with the bots instead of interacting with real people.
According to the data, 21 percent of teens replaced that human connection with a chatbot as often as a few times per week.
Shawni Butler is a licensed clinical social worker. She serves as emergency services supervisor at Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau.
She said she’s seen firsthand how attached teens are to technology, including social media and AI.
“It’s actually quite scary for us with a lot of our youth that they are clinging more to technology than to in-person connection.”
Once that happens, Butler said it can be an obstacle to developing social skills.
“With so much social media, which is a totally different type of connection, they’re losing that ability to have social skills. And if you lose that ability, the more you’re kind of enabling that fear, you’re not going to get out there and be more sociable.”
Butler said that can lead to greater isolation, which isn’t healthy.
“We need connection because as human beings, we have to have connection. So it’s kind of understandable that they would try to get that connection need met using AI companionship.”
Butler said it’s important for parents to be open with teens about their AI usage, but more than that, parents should form their own understanding of how it works.
“We have to speak from experience, play around with the AI yourself so that you’re coming from that place of, ‘I know what this platform can do, and this is what I think can be helpful, what may not be helpful.’ So you’re not just dictating what to do from a place of not knowing what it’s all about.”
Butler said becoming familiar with AI will help parents be able to discuss appropriate use with teens.
“What is it that they are asking the AI platform that maybe they’re not comfortable asking their parent about?” Butler said. “That’s where that transparent conversation can come in and be like, ‘This is what I use it for and what has been helpful, but what do you want to use it for?’”
Butler explained there are important aspects of in-person interaction teens won’t get from AI.
“There’s just so many different nuances,” Butler said. “They can’t look into your nonverbal cues, your body language, know your history, and who knows your history more so than your own parents?”
As the world sorts out the positives and negatives of an ever-growing AI industry, Butler said it’s key to remember that a chatbot is no substitute for person-to-person interaction.
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