Digital friends. This is commentary from James A. Brown. According to new research from Common Sense Media, 72% of American teens are using AI for companionship. And honestly, it's not surprising. It reminds me of so many of our problems, and most of them don't have easy answers.
There are fewer teens than in previous generations. School buses are emptier and neighborhoods quieter. And those kids who are with us are lonely as hell. They're saturated with technology like the rest of us.
Meanwhile, adults, in this case, their parents, are working harder, longer, and not getting far.
Grim, right?
So when a teen finds an AI, that's always available, always agreeable, always interested, well, of course, they're drawn to it. But that's the problem. It's everything human relationships aren't predictable, convenient, and risk-free. And that worries me more, because real relationships teach us to handle conflict, to navigate disappointment, and read social cues. They're messy and imperfect because people are messy and imperfect.
So, what do you think and what should we do about all this? Let me know in the comments and check out more at jamesabrown.net.
On that note, I'm James A. Brown, and as always be well.
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