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Short answer: Yes, many U.S. teenagers report using AI companions, and some describe turning to them for serious conversations. Common Sense Media’s 2025 survey found that 72% of teens ages 13–17 had used an AI companion at least once and 52% used one regularly. But the available evidence does not show that loneliness causes this use, that AI use causes loneliness, or that every teen experiences an AI as a replacement for human friendship.
What counts as an “AI friend”?
Common Sense Media defines AI companions as “digital friends or characters you can text or talk with whenever you want.” They are software systems that simulate conversation and may be presented as a friend, character or confidant. Calling one a “friend” describes a young person’s framing or the product’s role; it does not establish a reciprocal human relationship.
Common Sense Media described the trend in July 2025 as “A new type of relationship is emerging in teens’ lives—one that feels like connection but is powered by code.” The appeal is partly social availability: a chatbot can respond on demand and is designed to communicate in human-like ways. Teens also report entertainment and curiosity as motivations, so it is not accurate to reduce all use to loneliness.
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How common is teen use?
The figures below come from Common Sense Media’s 2025 survey of U.S. teens ages 13–17. They are self-reported use estimates, not a clinical measure of dependency, well-being or long-term effects, and they should not be generalized to teenagers in every country.
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| Survey finding | What it means |
|---|---|
| 72% had used an AI companion at least once (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | Trying a companion was common in this survey; “ever used” does not mean frequent or harmful use. |
| 52% used AI companions regularly (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | About half of surveyed teens reported recurring use, although the survey figure does not by itself establish how often or for how long. |
| 33% of teen AI-companion users said they chose an AI instead of a real person for important or serious matters (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | Some teens use a chatbot for high-stakes conversations, a reason to treat mental-health and safety limits separately from casual entertainment. |
| 24% of teen AI-companion users said they had shared personal or private information (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | Reported disclosures included examples such as a real name, location or personal secrets, making privacy conversations important. |
| 31% of teen AI-companion users found conversations as satisfying as or more satisfying than conversations with real-life friends (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | Some users experience substantial conversational satisfaction, but the result is a perception, not proof of a two-way friendship. |
| 80% of AI-companion users said they still spent more time with real friends than with companions (Common Sense Media, 2025 U.S. teen self-report). | For most users in this survey, companion use coexisted with more time spent with human friends rather than displacing it. |
What the safety evidence actually evaluates
Survey responses, expert testing and a regulator’s inquiry answer different questions. They should not be combined into one risk percentage.
| Evidence | What it can show | What it cannot establish |
|---|---|---|
| Common Sense Media’s 2025 teen survey | How often surveyed U.S. teens reported using companions, what they said they used them for and what they disclosed. | Whether use caused loneliness, improved mental health or produced lasting social changes. |
| Common Sense Media Youth AI Safety Institute, Social AI Companions Risk Assessment, updated July 16, 2025 | The institute’s evaluation of social-companion products and the harms it identified in testing and review. | A government-wide classification, a finding about every product or a legal conclusion. |
| Common Sense Media and Stanford Medicine Brainstorm Lab assessment, November 2025 | How tested general-purpose chatbots handled mental-health conversations, including warning signs and longer dialogues. | The safety of every chatbot, or evidence that a chatbot can provide professional care. |
| Federal Trade Commission 6(b) inquiry, announced September 2025 | What seven consumer-facing chatbot companies say about testing, child safety, age restrictions, disclosures, monetization and conversation data. | Proof that a company broke the law or a completed regulatory finding. |
Why evaluators warn about social-companion products
The Common Sense Media Youth AI Safety Institute rated social AI companions an “Unacceptable Risk” for children and teens under 18 in its assessment updated July 16, 2025. Its executive summary says: “Social AI companions pose unacceptable risks to teens and children under 18, including encouraging harmful behaviors, providing inappropriate content, and potentially exacerbating mental health conditions.”
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That wording is the institute’s assessment, not a law or a government-wide label. It reflects the products and methods the institute evaluated. A rating can inform family and school decisions, but it should not be presented as proof that every companion behaves identically or that harm is inevitable.
Why mental-health conversations are a separate high-stakes case
The November 2025 Common Sense Media and Stanford Medicine Brainstorm Lab assessment examined general-purpose chatbots, not only services marketed as social companions. It reported that tested systems could miss mental-health warning signs and that safeguards weakened during extended conversations. The assessors recommended that teens not use AI chatbots for mental-health support unless products receive significant modifications.
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“The chatbot becomes a substitute for—rather than a bridge to—real-world support networks and professional care.” — Dr. Nina Vasan, MD, MBA, founder and director of Stanford Medicine’s Brainstorm Lab, quoted by Common Sense Media, November 20, 2025.
A chatbot may produce an empathetic-sounding reply without reliably recognizing risk, maintaining context or connecting a teen to appropriate care. A teen discussing self-harm, abuse, severe distress or another urgent concern should be directed to a trusted adult and qualified human mental-health resources, not left to manage the situation with a bot.
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Can an AI companion replace a real friend?
The 2025 survey shows that some teens find these conversations highly satisfying and sometimes select an AI for serious matters, while most surveyed users still report spending more time with human friends. Those findings describe different experiences within the same population; they do not prove that companions are replacing friendships.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe evidence reviewed here also does not establish that loneliness leads teens to companion AI, that companion use makes teens lonely, or that either condition causes a mental-health disorder. There is no named prevalence statistic for adolescent loneliness in these sources, and long-term effects on relationships remain unresolved.
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What parents and educators can do now
Common Sense Media recommends judgment-free conversations and healthy boundaries, educator-led AI literacy, and stronger age assurance and safeguards from platforms and policymakers. The recommendations below are practical applications of those principles, not interventions proven to prevent harm.
1. Ask before assuming
- Ask which service or character a teen uses, what the conversations are for and what feels useful about them.
- Discuss whether the teen has used the bot for a serious problem, received a troubling reply or felt pressured to keep chatting.
- Keep the conversation non-punitive so a teen is more likely to disclose risky content or an upsetting interaction.
2. Set boundaries that protect privacy and time
- Agree that real names, addresses, precise locations, passwords, intimate images and other secrets should not be entered into a chatbot.
- Review the service’s age rules, privacy settings and data disclosures together; do not assume a friendly tone means a conversation is private.
- Set device-free times and places that preserve sleep, schoolwork and opportunities to spend time with people.
3. Teach how simulated empathy works
- Explain that fluent, caring language is generated behavior, not evidence of feelings, loyalty or professional judgment.
- Encourage teens to verify important information and notice when a system gives confident but unsuitable advice.
- Make clear that a bot should not be the only source of help for mental-health, medical, safety or abuse concerns.
4. Build a human support path
Identify trusted adults and qualified mental-health resources a teen can contact before a crisis occurs. If a teen describes immediate danger or intent to self-harm, involve a responsible adult and local emergency or crisis services rather than relying on an AI conversation.
5. Use school and platform safeguards
Educators can include AI literacy in lessons on privacy, source evaluation and digital relationships. Families and schools can press platforms for meaningful age assurance, clearer disclosures and safeguards designed for minors. The FTC’s September 2025 inquiry is gathering information about those practices; it is an information-gathering action, not a completed finding of unlawful conduct.
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AI-companion use is widespread in the 2025 U.S. teen survey, and a significant minority report using bots for serious topics or sharing private information. At the same time, most users still spend more time with real friends. Treat “friend” as a description of a simulated relationship, keep high-stakes mental-health support human, and respond with privacy boundaries, AI literacy and open conversation rather than assuming either inevitable harm or a proven loneliness epidemic.
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