Generative AI has attracted a rising number of users under the age of 18, who turn to chatbots for things such as help with schoolwork, entertainment, social connection and therapy; a survey released this month by Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan polling firm, found that nearly a third of U.S. teens use chatbots daily.

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And an overwhelming majority of teens — 72 percent — have used AI companions at some point; about half use them a few times a month or more, according to a July report from Common Sense Media, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on children’s digital safety.

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In the research lab Charmaraman oversees, teens experiment with building their own AI chatbot companions; they engage in critical thinking and develop a deeper understanding of the technology’s parameters and limitations. But many of their peers don’t have this sense of digital literacy, she says: “They just bump into [AI]. A friend is using it, and they think, ‘Hey, I want to use it, too, that seems cool.’” For many of those among the first generation of children to navigate AI, she says, “they’re learning it on their own, without any guidance.”

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In response to mounting public scrutiny over the effects of AI chatbots on children, Character AI announced that, as of Nov. 24, it would begin removing the ability of users under age 18 to chat with AI-generated characters.

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Character AI users between the ages of 13 and 18 are now directed toward a teen-specific experience within the app, one that does not involve chatting with AI characters. But at the time R downloaded Character AI in 2024, it was rated in the App Store as appropriate for ages 12 and older (Character AI’s terms of service specify that users must be at least 13 to use the app) and appealed to children with AI-generated personas designed to imitate pop stars, Marvel superheroes, and characters from Harry Potter and Disney.

The use of AI among children has become so prevalent that Elizabeth Malesa, a clinical psychologist who works with teens at Alvord Baker & Associates in Maryland, says the practice has recently started asking about it during the intake process. Malesa has heard numerous patients talk about AI chatbots in a positive context — noting that they’re helpful with homework, or offer useful advice — but she also recalls a 13-year-old patient who had used an AI companion app to explore questions about his sexual and gender identity. In response to the boy’s “pretty benign prompts,” Malesa says, the conversation quickly tilted toward inappropriate sexual content: “He didn’t know what was happening or why he was getting there, but he was also just curious, and so he kind of kept going.”