A Pew Research poll found about 64% of teens have used an AI chatbot and 30% say they use chatbots daily.
The poll found that 16% of teens say they use them several times a day or almost constantly.
Experts say teens are increasingly turning to AI for help when it comes to their social lives and basic relationships.
It's known as "emotional off-loading" but it has its pitfalls and may be preventing them from maturing in important ways.
Clay Shirky is the vice provost of AI and Technology in education at NYU. He's concerned that young people are turning to AI not just for academic shortcuts, but to navigate emotional situations and relationships.
"It's often called the sycophantic nature of these tools makes people feel better in the moment, like, oh, I'm completely right and my friend is completely wrong," Shirky said. "But it actually, and this is the terrifying research, it weakens people's willingness to invest in restructuring or repairing a relationship."
And the more people depend on the advice of AI, the less likely they are to experience opportunities for growth.
"We've all walked into the situations where it's like, this is going to be a really tough situation and then left thinking I actually have a stronger relationship with that person from having this conversation," Shirky said.
Ioana Literat is an associate professor of technology, media and learning at Columbia's Teachers College. She too wants students to have a more critical stance toward AI.
"That discomfort, of course, is pedagogically important and it's the signal that real learning is happening," Literat said. "I see a lot of what we can call false confidence, where students submit polished work. That kind of sounds good, but it's becoming clear that they don't understand what they wrote. that's applicable even beyond academic work as well."
Students we spoke to realize AI has pitfalls.
"You have people who are prone to good communication who won't use it at all, and then people who are who think they are good communicators and then use ChatGPT," said NYU freshman Jack Brailsford. "And then we see a loss of skills in areas where AI is used to replace your actual actions."
NYU freshman Henry Bauer said he hasn't used AI yet this semester.
"I've noticed that a lot of the time when I, you know, even just using it to help me finish my own thoughts when I read them back, I'm like, this doesn't really sound like me, this isn't the work that I'm trying to create," Bauer said.
But not everyone has that kind of willpower and Shirky says it's unlikely AI companies will regulate on their own.
"What we've learned from not just the mobile phone thing, but from regulating cigarettes is that if you have a company that makes an addictive product, the regulation has to come from the outside," Shirky said.
Until then, he says try having those human interactions without prompting AI first.
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